Three-Dimensional Flow Effects on Convective Heat Transfer From a Window Covered by a Simple Plane Blind With No Top Covering

Most studies of convective heat transfer in window-blind systems assume that the flow over the window-blind arrangement is two-dimensional. In some cases, however, three-dimensional flow effects can become important. The present study was undertaken to determine how significant such effects can be for the particular case of a window covered by a simple plane blind. Only convective heat transfer has been considered. The situation considered is only an approximate model of the real window-blind situation. The window is represented by a rectangular vertical isothermal wall section embedded in a large vertical adiabatic plane wall surface and exposed to a large surrounding "room" in which the temperature is lower than the window temperature. The plane blind is represented by a thin vertical wall having the same size as the "window" which offers no resistance to heat transfer across it and in which conductive heat transfer is negligible. The gaps between the blind and the window at the sides and at the top of the window-blind system are assumed to be open. The flow has been assumed to be laminar and it has been assumed that the fluid properties are constant except for the density change with temperature which gives rise to the buoyancy forces. The solution has been obtained by numerically solving the three-dimensional governing equations written in dimensionless form. The effects of the dimensionless governing variables on the window Nusselt number have been numerically examined.