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Numerical study of thermal convection in a cavity with large variations in fluid viscosity

Book ·
OSTI ID:458406
;  [1]
  1. CFD Research Corp., Huntsville, AL (United States)
Numerical simulations have been performed of a benchmark problem involving steady-state, laminar, buoyancy induced flow in a square enclosure with differentially heated side walls. The viscosity of the fluid varies strongly with temperature, with specified piece-wise linear variations over different temperature ranges. CFD-ACE, an advanced general purpose CFD code, has been employed for performing the computations. With grid resolutions varying from 51x51 to 151x151, results have been obtained for Rayleigh numbers 10{sup 4}, 10{sup 5}, and 10{sup 6}. Computed profiles are provided of flow and heat transfer quantities including wall shear stresses and Nusselt numbers. Results show that the variations in viscosity become localized to a small region adjacent to the hot wall with increasing Rayleigh number.
OSTI ID:
458406
Report Number(s):
CONF-951135--; ISBN 0-7918-1751-2
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English