This paper presents the numerical results of natural convective flows between two vertical, parallel plates within a large enclosure. A parametric study has been conducted for various Prandtl numbers and channel aspect ratios. The results are in good agreement with the reported results in the literature for air for large aspect ratios. However, for small aspect ratios, the present numerical results do not agree with the correlations given in the literature. The discrepancy is due to the fact that the published results were obtained for channels where the diffusion of thermal energy in the vertical direction is negligible. The results obtained in this paper indicate that vertical conduction should be considered for channel aspect ratios less than 10 for Pr = 0.7. Correlations are presented to predict the maximum temperature and the average Nusselt number on the plate as explicit functions of the channel Rayleigh number and the channel aspect ratio for air. The plate temperature is a weak function of Prandtl number for Prandtl numbers greater than 0.7, if the channel Rayleigh number is chosen as the correlating parameter. For Prandtl numbers less than 0.1, the plate temperature is a function of the channel Rayleigh number and the Prandtl number. A correlation for maximum temperature on the plate is presented to include the Prandtl number effect for large aspect ratio channels.
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Research Papers
Correlations for Natural Convection Between Heated Vertical Plates
S. Ramanathan,
S. Ramanathan
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29631
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R. Kumar
R. Kumar
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29631
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S. Ramanathan
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29631
R. Kumar
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29631
J. Heat Transfer. Feb 1991, 113(1): 97-107 (11 pages)
Published Online: February 1, 1991
Article history
Received:
August 31, 1988
Revised:
May 8, 1990
Online:
May 23, 2008
Citation
Ramanathan, S., and Kumar, R. (February 1, 1991). "Correlations for Natural Convection Between Heated Vertical Plates." ASME. J. Heat Transfer. February 1991; 113(1): 97–107. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2910557
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