Natural convective heat transfer in the air-filled interstice between inclined concentric hemispheres

Abstract

Purpose The main purpose of this work is to quantify the convective heat transfer occurring between two inclined and concentric hemispheres. Design/methodology/approach The inner one is an electronic assembly generating a constant heat flux during operation. The outer hemisphere is maintained isothermal at cold temperature. The interstitial space is air-filled. The base of the equipment can be inclined with respect to the horizontal plane by an angle ranging from 0° (horizontal position with dome faced upwards) to 180° (horizontal position with dome faced downwards). Findings Nusselt–Rayleigh correlations are proposed for several configurations obtained by varying the generated power and the base inclination. The large resulting Rayleigh number ranging between 2.4 × 105 and 1.7 × 107 allows using these new and original correlations in various engineering fields, such as electronics in the present work. The calculations are realized by means of a 3D numerical approach based on the finite volume method. Originality/value The geometry and the thermal boundary conditions considered in the present survey are suitable for applications in many engineering areas.