NUMERICAL-ANALYSIS OF NATURAL-CONVECTION AROUND A VERTICAL CHANNEL INA RECTANGULAR ENCLOSURE

Numerical computations were performed for the Nomenclature heat transf er and fluid flow characteristics of an internal vertical channel comp osed by a pair of parallel plates situated in a rectangular enclosure, with the inner plates and the bounding wall of the enclosure maintain ed at uniform but different temperatures. Natural convection occurred in the air which occupied the enclosure space. The plates were symmetr ically arranged. The dimensionless channel width S was varied parametr ically. The Rayleigh numbers ranged from 10(2) to 10(7). Static bifurc ation was found in this configuration. The bifurcation is related to t he flow pattern transition from single-vortex structure to double-vort ex structure or vice versa. Comparison with the empirical correlations obtained for a vertical plate and a channel in an infinite space show ed that the heat transfer process of the plates and the channel was de teriorated by the existence of the enclosure.