Numerical investigation on the bifurcative natural convection in a horizontal concentric annulus
- Seoul National Univ. (Korea, Republic of)
- Soongsil Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
Natural convective heat transfer in an annulus bounded by two horizontal cylinders has attracted intensive attention in research because of its wide technological applications, such as solar energy storage, ducting systems, and underground cable systems. Here, steady state two-dimensional natural convective heat transfer in a horizontal cylindrical annulus was studied by solving the governing equations based on the primitive variables. Emphasis was put on the occurrence of multiple solutions and on the determination of the bifurcation points at which those multiple solutions begin to branch out. The multicellular flow patterns from the results of melting processes in an isothermally heated horizontal cylinder for high Rayleigh numbers were used as initial fields. This approach succeeded in finding new bifurcation points to a tetracellular solution for a set of parameter variables identical to those used in previous studies. Close examination of flow pattern transitions near the bifurcation point was also conducted. It was found that the mechanisms of flow transition are different depending on the critical Rayleigh number of the bifurcation point.
- OSTI ID:
- 687495
- Journal Information:
- Numerical Heat Transfer. Part A, Applications, Journal Name: Numerical Heat Transfer. Part A, Applications Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 36; ISSN 1040-7782; ISSN NHAAES
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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