Development of Laminar Mixed Convection Flow in a Horizontal Rectangular Duct With Uniform Bottom Heating

Using a vectorized finite-difference marching technique, the steady-state continuity, momentum, and energy equations are solved numerically to evaluate the effects of buoyancy-induced secondary flow on forced flow in a horizontal rectangular duct with uniform bottom heating. Combined entry region conditions are considered, and the secondary flow is found to consist of longitudinal plumes and vortices that first develop at the vertical sidewalls and subsequently propagate to interior spanwise positions. Sequential stages of the secondary flow development are computed in detail and used to interpret the nonmonotonic longitudinal distribution of the spanwise average Nusselt number. The distribution is characterized by oscillations that, under certain conditions, are damped and yield a fully developed Nusselt number that substantially exceeds the value for pure forced convection.