Natural convection in air-filled, 2-D rectangular enclosures heated from below and cooled from above is studied numerically under the assumption of adiabatic sidewalls. A computational model based on the SIMPLE-C algorithm is used for solving the mass, momentum, and energy transfer governing equations. Simulations are performed for different values of the height-to-width aspect ratio of the enclosure in the range A=2-6, by progressively increasing and successively decreasing the Rayleigh number in the range Ra=10^3-2×10^6. After the departure from motionless conduction takes place, the following flow-pattern evolution is detected: one-cell steady; two-cell steady; two-cell periodic; one-to-three-cell periodic; three-cell periodic. At each bifurcation, either abrupt or smooth changes in the Nusselt number are found to occur, according to whether the flow-transition is either sudden or more gradual. Hysteresis phenomena occurrence is documented. The effects of tilting the enclosure upon the stability of the different flow structures are also analysed.
Rayleigh-Bénard convection in tall rectangular enclosures / Cappelli, Maria; Cianfrini, Claudio; Corcione, Massimo. - In: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THERMAL SCIENCES. - ISSN 1290-0729. - STAMPA. - 43(2):(2004), pp. 135-144. [10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2003.05.002]
Rayleigh-Bénard convection in tall rectangular enclosures
CAPPELLI, Maria;CIANFRINI, Claudio;CORCIONE, Massimo
2004
Abstract
Natural convection in air-filled, 2-D rectangular enclosures heated from below and cooled from above is studied numerically under the assumption of adiabatic sidewalls. A computational model based on the SIMPLE-C algorithm is used for solving the mass, momentum, and energy transfer governing equations. Simulations are performed for different values of the height-to-width aspect ratio of the enclosure in the range A=2-6, by progressively increasing and successively decreasing the Rayleigh number in the range Ra=10^3-2×10^6. After the departure from motionless conduction takes place, the following flow-pattern evolution is detected: one-cell steady; two-cell steady; two-cell periodic; one-to-three-cell periodic; three-cell periodic. At each bifurcation, either abrupt or smooth changes in the Nusselt number are found to occur, according to whether the flow-transition is either sudden or more gradual. Hysteresis phenomena occurrence is documented. The effects of tilting the enclosure upon the stability of the different flow structures are also analysed.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.