Simulation of steady-state natural convection using CFD

Abstract

This paper investigates the air flow and heat transfer over a heated vertical plate and in a differentiallyheated cavity using Computer Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Parametric studies have been carried out to investigate the influence of near wall mesh density on air flow and heat transfer for natural-convection. Benchmark models have been used for steady-state simulations of laminar and turbulent free-convection flow for different turbulence models. Results have been validated with experimental data (Tian et al, 2001) and analytical predictions (Ostrach, 1956). Appropriate meshing parameters and turbulence models were found which gave results which agreed well with the experiment and analytical data. Key words: CFD, free convection, buoyancy, turbulence, heat transfer, Nusselt number, cavity