Transient Free Convection About Vertical Plates and Circular Cylinders

Abstract

An analysis is made of the transient free-convection, heat-transfer problem from vertical flat plates and vertical circular cylinders to a surrounding initially quiescent fluid. The transient is initiated by a change in wall temperature of the plate or cylinder. A method of predicting the length of time for which a one-dimensional regime of velocity and heat transfer will exist is proposed and solutions are presented. Good agreement is found with the few existing data.