An Interaction of Natural Convective Heat Transfer From Two Adjacent Isothermal Narrow Vertical and Inclined Flat Plates

Abstract

Natural convective heat transfer from a two narrow adjacent rectangular isothermal flat plates of the same size embedded in a plane adiabatic surface, the adiabatic surface being in the same plane as the surfaces of the heated plates, has been numerically investigated. The two plates have the same surface temperature and they are aligned with each other but are separated form each other by a relatively small gap. Results for the case where the plates are vertical and where they are inclined at positive or negative angles to the vertical have been obtained. It has been assumed that the fluid properties are constant except for the density change with temperature which gives rise to the buoyancy forces, this having been treated using the Boussinesq approach. It has also been assumed that the flow is symmetrical about the vertical center plane between the two plates. The solution has been obtained by numerically solving the full three-dimensional form of governing equations, these equations being written in dimensionless form. The solution was obtained using the commercial finite volume method based cfd code, FLUENT. The solution has the Rayleigh number, the dimensionless plate width, the angle of inclination, the dimensionless gap between two flat plates, and the Prandtl number as parameters. Results have only been obtained for a Prandtl number of 0.7 Results have been obtained for Rayleigh numbers between 103 and 107 for plate width-to-height ratios of between 0.15 and 0.6, for gap between the adjacent edges to plate height ratios of between 0 and 0.2, for angles of inclination between +45° and −45°.