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Heat transfer experiment on natural convection in a square cavity with discrete sources

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Abstract

The present research investigates the effects of the dimensions and the positions of heating sources in the lateral walls of a square cavity. The temperature distributions in the air and the heat transfer coefficients are measured experimentally by holographic interferometry and compared with the numerical results obtained with Fluent 12.1.4. Experimentally and numerically, it is observed how the sizes and the positions of the heat sources influence the velocity field.

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Abbreviations

a :

Thermal diffusivity (m2 s−1)

g :

Modulus of the gravity vector (m s−2)

H :

Length of the side of the square cavity (m)

k :

Thermal conductivity (Wm−1 K−1)

l :

Heat source length (m)

L :

Cavity depth in the experimental tests (m)

\( \overline{Nu} \) :

Average Nusselt number of the heat source

Nu h :

Local Nusselt number

Nu ave :

Average Nusselt number

Nu higher :

Average Nusselt number of the higher source in the configuration l = H/4

Nu lower :

Average Nusselt number of the lower source in the configuration l = H/4

Nu m−m :

Average Nusselt number in the configuration l = H/2

Pr :

Prandtl number

Ra :

Rayleigh number

T :

Temperature (K)

ΔT :

Temperature difference between the heat sources and cold strips

x :

Cartesian axis direction

X :

Dimensionless Cartesian axis direction

y :

Cartesian axis direction

Y :

Dimensionless Cartesian axis direction

β:

Thermal expansion coefficient (K−1)

ε:

Dimensionless length of the heat source

θ:

Dimensionless temperature

ρ:

Density (kg m−3)

υ:

Kinematic viscosity (m2 s−1)

c :

Cold wall

cal:

Calculated data

exp:

Experimental data

h :

Hot wall

num:

Numerical data

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Acknowledgments

This study is financially supported by the following project: PRIN 2008.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale e Scienze Matematiche, Università Politecnica delle Marche, 60100, Ancona, Italy

    G. Nardini & M. Paroncini

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  1. G. Nardini
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  2. M. Paroncini
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Correspondence to G. Nardini.

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Nardini, G., Paroncini, M. Heat transfer experiment on natural convection in a square cavity with discrete sources. Heat Mass Transfer 48, 1855–1865 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-012-1026-6

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