The Influence of Baffles on the Natural Convection in Trapezoidal Cavities

Abstract

This article presents an investigation into natural convection in trapezoidal cavities. It examines a cavity whose floor and upper inclined walls are both adiabatic, while the vertical walls are isothermal. For these isothermal walls, we consider two thermal boundary conditions. Under the first condition, the short wall on the left side is heated as the tall one on the right side is cooled. The second condition is the reverse of the first—the short wall is cooled as the tall one is heated. Considering laminar conditions and a two-dimensional system, steady-state computations are carried out to assess the effects of one and two baffles, the baffle's height (H _b ), Rayleigh number, 10³ ≤ Ra ≤ 10⁶, and three Prandtl number values. To demonstrate the various effects, the results from several designed case studies are shown in terms of isotherms, streamlines, and local and average Nusselt numbers in order. Predictions reveal that the second baffle decreases the cavity's fluid flow and heat transfer. As the height of the baffle rises, the heat transfer drops drastically. Also, two baffles produce more pronounced thermal stratification than only one.