Natural convection flow in an open rectangular cavity with cold sidewalls and constant volumetric heat source

Abstract

The transient two-dimensional natural convection flow of Newtonian fluid in an open rectangular cavity has been studied numerically. The flow is induced due to constant internal heat generation. The alternate direct implicit (ADI) finite difference, together with upwind finite-difference scheme and successive over relaxation method, are used to solve the non-dimensional equations numerically. Effects of Rayleigh number, Ra, Prandtl number, Pr, and cavity aspect ratio, A, on the flow patterns and isotherms as well as on the heat transfer rate are studied graphically. The maximum temperature induced due to the constant volumetric heat source is found with the increase in cavity width, and to decrease with the increase in Prandtl number and Rayleigh number. The numerical model employed here is found to be in good agreement with the previous work.