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Visual observation of natural convective flow in a narrow vertical cavity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2006

Nobuhiro Seki
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060, Japan
Shoichiro Fukusako
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060, Japan
Hideo Inaba
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060, Japan

Abstract

Experimental visualization of natural convective flow was carried out by using several kinds of fluid contained in a narrow vertical rectangular cavity with one vertical wall heated, the opposing vertical wall cooled and the upper and lower walls insulated. The effects of the Prandtl number Pr of the working fluid and the width of the cavity W on the flow pattern are discussed qualitatively in the present paper. The occurrence of flow patterns consisting of unicellular flow, steady secondary flow, tertiary flow and transition (from laminar to turbulent) flow is categorically demonstrated by the photographs taken. Moreover, experimental measurements of the net heat transfer through the vertical fluid layer are given for aspect ratios of 6-30 and Prandtl numbers of 4-12 500.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1978 Cambridge University Press

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