MIXED CONVECTION IN A PARTIALLY DIVIDED RECTANGULAR ENCLOSURE

Combined free convection and forced convection in a partially divided enclosure with a finite-size heat source is studied numerically. The e nclosure is partially divided by a conductive vertical divider protrud ing from the floor or the ceiling of the enclosure. The present study simulates a practical system such as air-cooled electronic equipment w ith heated components. Emphasis is placed on the influence of the loca tion and the height of the divider, as well as the locations of the so urce and the outflow opening. The developed mathematical model is gove rned by the coupled equations of stream function, vorticity transport, and energy and is solved by employing the cubic spline collocation sc heme. The computation is carried out for wide ranges of Reynolds and G rashof numbers. The results indicate that the average Nusselt number a nd the dimensionless surface temperature on the heat source strongly d epend on the location and the height of the divider. The basic nature of the resulting interaction between the forced external airstream and the buoyancy-driven flow by the heat source is explained by the heat transfer coefficient and the patterns of the streamlines and the isoth erms.