Transient conjugated mixed-convective heat transfer in a vertical plate channel with one wall heated discretely

Abstract

This study presents a numerical solution of the unsteady conjugated mixed-convection heat transfer in a vertical plate channel with one wall suddenly subjected to either isoflux or isothermal discrete heat sources. The effects of the dimensionless heat source length H1, the dimensionless spacing between heat sources H2, the dimensionless channel length L, the dimensionless heated-plate thickness Bl, the wall-to-fluid conductivity ratio K and the ratio of Grashof number to Reynolds number Gr/Re on the interface heat flux, Nusselt number and bulk fluid temperature are discussed in detail. Results show that the discrete heating can cause the heat transfer direction conversely from the fluid to the heated plate during the transient period, which is more significant for the cases with larger L and H2. For the system with isoflux discrete heat sources, the time required to reach the steady-state is shorter for larger H2. While the trend is reverse for system with isothermal discrete heat sources. Additionally, a higher ratio of the input energy is axially conducted through the plate wall from heated sections to unheated regions for a larger H2 and Bl or smaller L.