Numerical Analysis of Turbulent Natural Convection Heat Transfer Inside a Trangular Shaped Enclosure Utilizing Computational Fluid Dynamic Code

Abstract

Numerical study of turbulent natural convection heat transfer inside a triangular shaped enclosure is considered. A k-ε model along with mass, momentum and energy equations is utilized to solve the flow and temperature field. A computational fluid dynamic based code (CFD), Fluent, that is commercially available is used is to solve the non-linear partial differential equations. The steady state, two-dimensional, incompressible heat transfer results are presented in terms of non dimensional temperature, heat flux, and the Nusselt number as a function of aspect ratio (Ar), angle between sloped and horizontal wall (θ), and the Grashof number (Gr). The obtained results are compared with results that are calculated by a control volume based method. Results obtained by the Fluent code shows closed agreement with the control volume ones. It is again shown that heat transfer is higher in turbulent settings and results are function of the angle between two walls of the enclosure (θ).