Conjugate Heat Transfer in a Porous Cavity Heated by a Triangular Thick Wall

Abstract

The conjugate natural convection-conduction heat transfer in a square domain composed of a cavity heated by a triangular solid wall is studied under steady state condition. The vertical and horizontal walls of the triangular solid are kept isothermal and at the same hot temperature T _h . The other boundaries surrounding the porous cavity are kept adiabatic except the right vertical wall, where it is kept isothermally at the lower temperature T _c . Equations governing the heat transfer in the triangular wall and heat and fluid flow, based on the Darcy model, in the fluid-saturated porous medium together with the derived relation of the interface temperature are solved numerically using the second order central differences finite difference scheme with the successive over relaxation (SOR) method. The investigated parameters are the Rayleigh number Ra (100-1000), solid to fluid saturated porous medium thermal conductivity ratio Kr (0.1–10), and the triangular wall thickness D (0.05-1). The results are presented in the conventional form; contours of streamlines and isotherms and the local and average Nusselt numbers. An uncommon behavior of the heat transfer in the porous medium with the triangular wall thickness D is observed and accounted.