Influence of Partition Length on Natural Convection in Partially Divided Square Enclosure

Abstract

Numerical investigation is carried out for natural convection in square enclosures consisting of partitions protruding from the end walls with different thermal boundary conditions at the end walls and partitions. The vertical walls were maintained isothermal at different temperatures. The Rayleigh number varies from 104 to 106 and the Prandtl number is 0.71. The thickness of the partition is fixed and is equal to one-tenth of the width of the enclosure. Their nondimensional length (l∕H) varies from 0 (a nonpartitioned enclosure) to 0.5 (two separate enclosures). A good agreement was found between the results in the present study and those published previously. The partitions were found to significantly influence the convective heat transfer. The average Nusselt number is less in the presence of partitions, and it decreases with increasing partition length (l∕H) from 0 to 0.5.