Energy flux vectors as a new tool for convection visualization

Purpose The aim of this paper is to introduce a new technique for convection visualization. This is similar to Bejan's heatlines and is even an exact match to Landau and Lifshitz's energy streamlines for two‐dimensional geometries. Design/methodology/approach The work benefits from a combination of numerical and analytical tools to show that, in two‐dimensional space, heatlines and energy streamlines are effectively the same. More importantly, the energy flux vectors are tracing both of them accurately; as verified for some cases of free and forced convection problems in this paper. Findings The new technique is easier to implement compared to the existing counterparts which are available in the literature. More specifically, the advantage of this new technique is that, contrary to heatlines and energy streamlines, it does not require further numerical analysis in addition to solving momentum and energy equations. Originality/value Energy flux vectors offer higher resolution compared to existing visualization tools.