Investigation on conjugate mixed convection inside a square cavity with heat generating rotating circular cylinder

Abstract

This paper displays the execution of a numerical investigation of conjugate pure mixed convection heat transfer inside a square cavity with a circular rotating cylinder placed at the center of the cavity. Both top and bottom walls of the cavity are considered to be insulated, whereas the vertical walls are kept isothermally cooled. Besides, the rotating cylinder plays the simultaneous role of both heat conducting element and heat generating source. The numerical simulation is performed to solve the governing Navier-Stokes and energy equations using Galerkin finite element method. Both counterclockwise and clockwise rotations of the cylinder are taken into account along with the simultaneous variation of Reynolds and Grashof numbers, and the change of diameter of the cylinder. The analysis has been accomplished in terms of streamline and isotherm plots, the distribution of average Nusselt number of the heated cylinder surface and average temperature of the cavity. The findings of the present study reveal that variations of governing parameters and the size of the cylinder significantly contribute towards the thermal performance through drastically change of flow pattern and thermal field. However, the direction of rotation of the cylinder has insignificant effect on the characteristics of pure mixed convection heat transfer inside the cavity.