Open Access

ARTICLE

Numerical Investigation of Combined Surface Radiation and Free Convection in a Square Enclosure with an Inside Finned Heater

Hamici Nadjib¹, Sahi Adel^1,*, Sadaoui Djamel¹, Djerrada Abderrahmane¹

1 Laboratoire de Mécanique, Matériaux et Energétique (L2ME), Faculté de Technologie, Université A. Mira de Bejaia, 06000, Bejaia, Algérie.

* Corresponding Author: Sahi Adel. Email: .

Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing 2018, 14(3), 155-175. https://doi.org/ 10.3970/fdmp.2018.01114

Abstract

The study goes further to investigate a two-dimensional numerical model coupling free convection and surface radiation in an air-filled cavity containing a heated thin finned plate. The square enclosure is subjected to isothermal and insulated boundary conditions while the heating element location is varied from the horizontal position (HPFU, HPFD) to the vertical position (VPFL). The dimensionless governing equations under Boussinesq approximations are coupled with a radiative model through the boundaries conditions and solved by the Finite Volume Method. The effects of the pertinent parameters, namely, Rayleigh number (10³≤Ra≤10⁶), fin length (0.125≤L_a≤0.875), fin position (0.25≤H_a≤0.75) and wall emissivity (0≤ε≤1) are investigated for a constant plate length (A=0.5). Results discussed in terms of streamlines, isotherms, convective and radiative Nusselt numbers highlighted the condition of the heat transfer improvement within the cavity which show an optimal thermal performance for a VPFL case (H_a=0.75 and L_a=0.875). Correlations are also developed for convective and Nusselt numbers for H_a=0.25 and L_a=0.5 with a maximum deviation less than 4%.

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Keywords

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