View article

A numerical study has been conducted to investigate steady state heat transfer and flow characteristics of natural convection in a vertical square enclosure when a temperature difference exists across an enclosure and, at the same time, a conducting body generates heat within the enclosure. Dimensionless governing equations indicate that the heat transfer and flow characteristics of this system are governed by the Rayleigh and Prandtl numbers, the area ratio, the conductivity ratio, and the temperature-difference ratio. Here the temperature-difference ratio is defined as the ratio of a temperature difference across the enclosure to that caused by the heat source. In the present study, the Rayleigh number ranges from 10³ to 10⁴, and the temperature-difference ratio from 0 to 50, while the Prandtl number, the area ratio, and the conductivity ratio are kept constant at 0.71, 0.25, 1, respectively. The analysis is performed …