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ARTICLE
NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF NATURAL CONVECTION IN RECTANGULAR CAVITIES WITH DIFFERENT ASPECT RATIOS
Olanrewaju M. Oyewolaa,b,*, Samuel I. Afolabib
, Olawale S. Ismailb
a School of Mechanical Engineering, Fiji National University, Suva, Fiji
b Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, 200213, Nigeria
* Corresponding author. Email. olanrewaju.oyewola@fnu.ac.fj
Frontiers in Heat and Mass Transfer 2021, 17, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.5098/hmt.17.11
Abstract
The problem of natural convection in rectangular cavities with different aspect ratios has been numerically analyzed in this study. Cavities considered
have their right vertical walls heated and cooled at the opposite with constant temperatures, while horizontal walls are kept adiabatic. The objective of
this study is to ascertain the significant effects of Rayleigh numbers (Ra), Nusselt numbers (Nu) and aspect ratios (AR) on flow and heat transfer in
rectangular cavities. The equations of Navier-Stokes and energy are solved by applying Galerkin weighted residual Finite Element Method. Parametric
calculations are performed for Rayleigh numbers (Ra) ranging from 104
to 108
and for aspect ratios (AR=0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2). Variations of Streamlines
and Isotherms contours of the resulting flow fields and temperatures are presented in correlation with the estimated Nusselt numbers (Nu) for a fluid
measured at air room temperature having Prandtl number (Pr) of 0.71. The results of the numerical simulation reveals that at higher Rayleigh number
of flow, heat transfer in rectangular cavities increases. The Nusselt number estimated close to the boundary of the hot wall indicate a predominant heat
transfer by convection in higher AR, hence, results indicates that with increasing aspect ratio, the thermal boundary layer thickness were steadily
increased thereby contributing to major heat transfer of fluid by convection in the rectangular cavities. The engineering application of natural convection
in cavities such as thermal storage facilities has made this study significant.
Keywords
Cite This Article
APA Style
Oyewola, O.M., Afolabi
, S.I., Ismail, O.S. (2021). NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF NATURAL CONVECTION IN RECTANGULAR CAVITIES WITH DIFFERENT ASPECT RATIOS. Frontiers in Heat and Mass Transfer, 17(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.5098/hmt.17.11
Vancouver Style
Oyewola OM, Afolabi
SI, Ismail OS. NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF NATURAL CONVECTION IN RECTANGULAR CAVITIES WITH DIFFERENT ASPECT RATIOS. Front Heat Mass Transf. 2021;17(1):1-8 https://doi.org/10.5098/hmt.17.11
IEEE Style
O.M. Oyewola, S.I. Afolabi
, and O.S. Ismail "NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF NATURAL CONVECTION IN RECTANGULAR CAVITIES WITH DIFFERENT ASPECT RATIOS," Front. Heat Mass Transf., vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 1-8. 2021. https://doi.org/10.5098/hmt.17.11