NATURAL CONVECTION IN CUBICAL ENCLOSURES WITH THERMAL SOURCES ON ADJACENT VERTICAL WALLS

Abstract

Natural convection in a cubical enclosure with a hot source centered on a vertical wall and with an adjacent, fully cooled vertical wall was numerically investigated for Rayleigh numbers ( Ras ) of 10 3 - 4 2 10 6 . At Ra < 10 5 the heat transfer strongly depends on the hot sector side and its dependence on Ra is weak. Opposite characteristics occur at very high Ra , and there is a long transition between these two regimes. This behavior is caused by a mixing pattern, which, at low Ra , is similar to the one found in side heated cavities, whereas at high Rayleigh numbers lateral mixing is dominant.