DOI: 10.1615/ICHMT.2008.CHT
ISBN Print: 978-1-56700-253-9
ISSN: 2578-5486
ANALYSIS OF THE FLOW AND HEAT TRANSFER CHARACTERISTICS FOR THE INCOMPRESSIBLE LAMINAR FLOW PAST AN OPEN CAVITY
ABSTRACT
The three-dimensional mixed convection past a cubical open cavity that lies at the bottom of a horizontal channel is studied numerically. The Reynolds numbers (Re) based on the height of the cavity and the free-stream velocity are 100 and 1000, and the Richardson numbers (Ri) are between 0.001 and 10. The cavity is assumed to be cubic in geometry and the vertical walls in the inflow and outflow sides are isothermals. A direct numerical simulation is undertaken to analyse the flow structure, the heat transfer characteristics and the complex interaction between the induced stream flow and the buoyancy-induced flow. It is found that the flow exhibits a three-dimensional structure and becomes steady for Re = 100 and Re = 1000 with low Ri number. The forced flow dominates the flow transport mechanism and large recirculating zone forms inside the enclosure. For both high Reynolds and Grashof numbers the natural convection effects come into play and push the recirculating zone further upstream. The flow may become unstable and the Nusselt number increases significantly.