Natural convection adjacent to a sidewall with three fins in a differentially heated cavity

Abstract

Natural convection in a differentially heated cavity with three fins on a sidewall is numerically investigated. Due to the presence of the fins, separation of the thermal flows around the fins occurs, and the thermal flows separating from the fins oscillate. The oscillations of the thermal flows around the fins improve the convection flows adjacent to the finned sidewall, and the heat transfer through the finned sidewall is significantly enhanced (by up to 33% at the early stage). This flow configuration is of practical significance for many industrial systems. References S. V. Patankar, Numerical heat transfer and fluid flow, Hemisphere Publishing Corp., 1980 R. Scozia and R. L. Frederick, Natural convection in slender cavities with multiple fins attached on an active wall, Numer. Heat Transfer Part A 20, 127--158, 1991. F. Xu, J. C. Patterson and C. Lei, Oscillations induced by a thin fin on the sidewall of a differentially heated cavity, Proc. 13th International Heat Transfer Conference, Sydney, 2006. F. Xu, J. C. Patterson and C. Lei, Experimental observations of the thermal flow around a square obstruction on a vertical wall in a differentially heated cavity, Exp. Fluids, 40, 364--371, 2006. doi:10.1007/s00348-005-0073-x N. Yucel and H. Turkoglu, Numerical analysis of laminar natural convection in enclosures with fins attached to an active wall, Heat and Mass Transfer, 33, 307--314, 1998. E. Bilgen, Natural convection in cavities with a thin fin on the hot wall, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, 48, 3493--3505, 2005. doi:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2005.03.016 G. N. Facas, Natural convection in a cavity with fins attached to both vertical walls, J. Thermophys. Heat Transfer, 7, 555--560, 1993. E. K. Lakhal, M. Hasnaoui, E. Bilgen, and P. Vasseur, Natural convectin in inclined rectangular enclosures with perfectly conducting fins attached on the heated wall, Heat Mass Transfer, 32, 365--373, 1997. J. C. Patterson and S. W. Armfield, Transient features of natural convection in a cavity, J. Fluid Mech., 219, 469--497, 1990. doi:10.1017/S0022112090003032