NUMERICAL STUDY OF LAMINAR AND TURBULENT NATURAL-CONVECTION IN AN INCLINED SQUARE CAVITY

Two-dimensional numerical simulations of the natural convection flow o f air in a differentially heated, inclined square cavity were performe d for both laminar and turbulent flows. The angle of inclination of th e cavity was varied from 0-degrees (heated from below) to 180-degrees (heated from above). For Rayleigh numbers between 10(4) and 10(11) the natural convection flow has been calculated. A detailed analysis was made for Rayleigh numbers of 10(6) and 10(10). The standard k-epsilon model for turbulence was used in the prediction of turbulent flows. Nu merical predictions of the heat flux at the hot wall and the influence of the angle of inclination on the Nusselt number are presented. The Nusselt number shows strong dependence on the orientation of the cavit y and the power law dependence on the Rayleigh number of the flow. Flo w patterns and isotherms are shown to give greater understanding of th e local heat transfer. For the high Rayleigh number calculations hyste resis of the solution was found at a transition of flow patterns.