Evaluation of Heat Transfer Rates through Transparent Dividing Structures

Abstract

In this paper, heat transfer and airflow in the gap between the panes of a central part of a double-glazed window were investigated using mathematical modeling. It has been shown that the cyclical airflow regime, in the form of ascending and descending boundary layers, loses stability and changes to a vortex regime under certain conditions depending on the gap width, transverse temperature gradient, inclination angle and window height, as in Rayleigh–Bernard convection cells. The study made it possible to determine the critical values of the Rayleigh number (Ra) at which the air flow regime in the gap between the panes of a window changes (in the range of values 6.07 × 103 < Ra < 6.7 × 103). As a result of the modeling, the values of the thermal resistance of a central part of double-glazed window were determined as a function of the width of the gap between the panes, the angle of inclination and the transverse temperature gradient.