Computational Modeling of Free Convection Between Coaxial Cylinders on the Basis of a Preconditioned Form of Navier–Stokes Equations

Abstract

We have performed computational modeling of the free-convective fl ow in the gap between two coaxial cylinders on the basis of complete Navier–Stokes equations from the viewpoint of the compressible gas model. To stabilize numerical calculations of the viscous compressible gas at small Mach numbers, we used the preconditioning method based on the application of physical variables and the dual time stepping method. We have investigated the fl ow structure in the gap between the cylinders and the heat-transfer characteristics on the surface of the outer and inner cylinders at various Rayleigh numbers.