Flow downward penetration of vertical parallel plates natural convection with an asymmetrically heated wall

Abstract

Phenomena of the flow downward penetration in vertical parallel plates natural convection with an asymmetrically heated wall are investigated numerically. For clarifying the occurrence of flow downward penetration, the width of parallel plates is further broadened and broader than that investigated in the previous study in which the flow reversal was studied in detail. In order to simulate realistically, the compressibility and the viscosity of the working fluid are simultaneously considered, and the non-reflecting boundary is adopted at apertures of plates. The methods of the Roe scheme, preconditioning, and dual time stepping matching LUSGS are coordinated to solve governing equations of a low-speed compressible flow problem. The flow downward penetration, in which fluids are sucked from surroundings outside the outlet to flow into the parallel plates and through the inlet flow out of parallel plates, is composed of a few fluids and firstly observed. Also, two flow reversal caused by the buoyancy force appear in the upper left region, and one flow reversal induced by the flow downward penetration appears in the low right region. The usage of the existing results and present study, an equivalent ratio of the width to the length of parallel plates, of which the heat transfer rate is the same as the single vertical heated plate, can be expediently obtained. In this study, the ratio is about 0.6. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.