scholarly journals Stochastic Analysis of Natural Convection in Vertical Channels with Random Wall Temperature

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Ryoichi Chiba

This study attempts to derive the statistics of temperature and velocity fields of laminar natural convection in a heated vertical channel with random wall temperature. The wall temperature is expressed as a random function with respect to time, or a random process. First, analytical solutions of the transient temperature and flow velocity fields for an arbitrary temporal variation in the channel wall temperature are obtained by the integral transform and convolution theorem. Second, the autocorrelations of the temperature and velocity are formed from the solutions, assuming a stationarity in time. The mean square values of temperature and velocity are computed under the condition that the fluctuation in the channel wall temperature can be considered as white noise or a stationary Markov process. Numerical results demonstrate that a decrease in the Prandtl number or an increase in the correlation time of the random process increases the level of mean square velocity but does not change its spatial distribution tendency, which is a bell-shaped profile with a peak at a certain horizontal distance from the channel wall. The peak position is not substantially affected by the Prandtl number or the correlation time.

2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhijit Guha ◽  
Subho Samanta

A boundary layer based integral analysis has been performed to investigate laminar natural convection heat transfer characteristics for fluids with arbitrary Prandtl number over a semi-infinite horizontal plate subjected either to a variable wall temperature or variable heat flux. The wall temperature is assumed to vary in the form T¯w(x¯)-T¯∞=ax¯n whereas the heat flux is assumed to vary according to qw(x¯)=bx¯m. Analytical closed-form solutions for local and average Nusselt number valid for arbitrary values of Prandtl number and nonuniform heating conditions are mathematically derived here. The effects of various values of Prandtl number and the index n or m on the heat transfer coefficients are presented. The results of the integral analysis compare well with that of previously published similarity theory, numerical computations and experiments. A study is presented on how the choice for velocity and temperature profiles affects the results of the integral theory. The theory has been generalized for arbitrary orders of the polynomials representing the velocity and temperature profiles. The subtle role of Prandtl number in determining the relative thicknesses of the velocity and temperature boundary layers for natural convection is elucidated and contrasted with that in forced convection. It is found that, in natural convection, the two boundary layers are of comparable thickness if Pr ≤ 1 or Pr ≈ 1. It is only when the Prandtl number is large (Pr > 1) that the velocity boundary layer is thicker than the thermal boundary layer.


Author(s):  
Oronzio Manca ◽  
Sergio Nardini ◽  
Vincenzo Naso

The effect of heat conduction on air natural convection in a vertical channel, symmetrically heated, with flush-mounted strips at the walls, was numerically analyzed. Reference was made to laminar two-dimensional steady-state flow and to full elliptic Navier-Stokes equations on a I-shaped computational domain. Solutions were carried out by means of the FLUENT code. Results are presented in terms of wall temperature profiles, air velocity and temperature profiles in the channel. The wall temperature is affected by the location of the strip on the channel wall and maximum wall temperature is far larger when the heater is located in the upper region of the channel. Heat conduction in the channel wall lowers maximum wall temperature below the heater and the thicker the wall the larger the temperature reduction.


2013 ◽  
Vol 739 ◽  
pp. 392-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
You-Sheng Zhang ◽  
Wei-Tao Bi ◽  
Fazle Hussain ◽  
Zhen-Su She

AbstractA generalized Reynolds analogy (GRA) is proposed for compressible wall-bounded turbulent flows (CWTFs) and validated by direct numerical simulations. By introducing a general recovery factor, a similarity between the Reynolds-averaged momentum and energy equations is established for the canonical CWTFs (i.e. pipes, channels, and flat-plate boundary layers that meet the quasi-one-dimensional flow approximation), independent of Prandtl number, wall temperature, Mach number, Reynolds number, and pressure gradient. This similarity and the relationships between temperature and velocity fields constitute the GRA. The GRA relationship between the mean temperature and the mean velocity takes the same quadratic form as Walz’s equation, with the adiabatic recovery factor replaced by the general recovery factor, and extends the validity of the latter to diabatic compressible turbulent boundary layers and channel/pipe flows. It also derives Duan & Martín’s (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 684, 2011, pp. 25–59) empirical relation for flows at different physical conditions (wall temperature, Mach number, enthalpy condition, surface catalysis, etc.). Several key parameters besides the general recovery factor emerge in the GRA. An effective turbulent Prandtl number is shown to be the reason for the parabolic profile of mean temperature versus mean velocity, and it approximates unity in the fully turbulent region. A dimensionless wall temperature, that we call the diabatic parameter, characterizes the wall-temperature effects in diabatic flows. The GRA also extends the analysis to the fluctuation fields. It recovers the modified strong Reynolds analogy proposed by Huang, Coleman & Bradshaw (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 305, 1995, pp. 185–218) and explains the variation of the temperature–velocity correlation coefficient with wall temperature. Thus, the GRA unveils a generalized similarity principle behind the complex nonlinear coupling between the thermal and velocity fields of CWTFs.


2016 ◽  
Vol 139 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinhu Zhao ◽  
Liancun Zheng ◽  
Xinxin Zhang ◽  
Fawang Liu ◽  
Xuehui Chen

This paper investigates natural convection heat transfer of generalized Oldroyd-B fluid in a porous medium with modified fractional Darcy's law. Nonlinear coupled boundary layer governing equations are formulated with time–space fractional derivatives in the momentum equation. Numerical solutions are obtained by the newly developed finite difference method combined with L1-algorithm. The effects of involved parameters on velocity and temperature fields are presented graphically and analyzed in detail. Results indicate that, different from the classical result that Prandtl number only affects the heat transfer, it has remarkable influence on both the velocity and temperature boundary layers, the average Nusselt number rises dramatically in low Prandtl number, but increases slowly with the augment of Prandtl number. The maximum value of velocity profile and the thickness of momentum boundary layer increases with the augment of porosity and Darcy number. Moreover, the relaxation fractional derivative parameter accelerates the convection flow and weakens the elastic effect significantly, while the retardation fractional derivative parameter slows down the motion and strengthens the elastic effect.


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