Mixed convection in a vented enclosure with an isothermal vertical surface

A numerical study is presented for mixed convection flow in an enclosure with an isothermal vertical wall. Forced flow conditions are imposed by providing an inlet at the bottom of the isothermal surface, and a vent at the top, facing the inlet. Buoyancy is generated because of the difference in temperatures between the wall and the throughstream. The interaction between the buoyancy and the forced flow is examined in detail. Both positive and negative temperature potentials are considered. At lower values of the Grashof number, heat transfer increases with increasing forced flow for either direction of the buoyancy. At higher absolute values of the Grashof number, the interaction becomes quite complex. Anomalous heat transfer behavior is observed with the variation of the ratio, |Gr|/Re 2 . This is explained with reference to the corresponding flow and thermal fields and local and average Nusselt number data are given.