Numerical analysis on natural convection in various enclosures

A numerical natural convection study has been carried out that studied various configurations for several enclosures. Conservation equations were solved using the finite volume method; transforming them into vorticity-stream functions. Several configurations are studied over a range of Rayleigh numbers that varied from 103 to 106; for walls that are heated, cooled or insulated. Results are presented using temperature and flow field plots; additionally local Nusselt numbers (Nu) are also presented for all Cases. Results demonstrate that the heat transfer increases as a function of the Rayleigh number; for low Rayleigh numbers (Ra), conduction dominates the heat transfer; as Ra increases, the effect of convection increases. Finally it was found that the presence of an inclined wall will suppress the convection process.