Study of the influence of a sinusoidal protuberance on the transfers by natural convection in a vertical channel

Abstract

A numerical investigation of the thermal natural convection developed in a vertical channel of which one of the walls is equipped with a sinusoidal protuberance subjected to a constant heat flux is presented. The walls of the channel located on both sides and opposite the protuberance are adiabatic. The governing elliptic equations are discretized in a two-dimensional domain using the finite-volume method with non-staggered variable arrangement and the PISO algorithm for the velocity-pressure coupling is employed. We analyze the influence of the amplitude of the protuberance and the heat flux applied to its base on the temperatures field, the flow structure and on the local and average Nusselt numbers.

Keywords:natural convection; sinusoidal protuberance; control volume method; nusselt number

International Journal of Natural and Applied Sciences Vol. 2 (3) 2006: pp. 164-173