Effect of adiabatic square ribs on natural convection in an asymmetrically heated channel

Abstract

A 2-D numerical simulation is carried out to investigate the effect of two adiabatic square ribs on laminar flow and heat transfer in an asymmetrically heated channel. The two ribs are symmetrically located on each wall, exactly above the heating zone. The computational procedure is made by solving the unsteady bi-dimensional continuity, momentum and energy equations with the finite volume method. The investigations focused more specifically on the influence of ribs sizes on the flow structure and heat transfer enhancement. The results showed that the variation of ribs sizes significantly alters the heat transfer and fluid flow distribution along the channel, especially in the vicinity of protrusions. Also, the results show that streamlines, isotherms, and the number, sizes and formation of vortex structures inside the channel strongly depend on the size of protrusions. The changes in heat transfer parameters have also been presented.