Natural convection in porous medium-fluid interface problems - A finite element analysis by using the CBS procedure

Natural convection in porous medium-fluid interface Problems are numericall y studied by using the characteristic based split (CBS) algorithm. The fini te element method is used to solve the governing generalized porous medium equations. The accuracy of the scheme is estimated by comparing the present predictions for a porous cavity with those results available for the same problem. Two different types of interface problems have been considered. In the first case, the domain is vertically divided into two equal parts, whi le in the second problem the division is along the horizontal direction. Re sults obtained from the present investigation are compared extensively with existing experimental and numerical data and they are in good agreement wi th the available literature. Also present results are smooth along the inte rface and are without any jumps in the solution.