Numerical Investigation of Transitional Characteristics for Natural-Convection Flow in Open-Ended Inclined Channel Heated From Below

Abstract

This report presents an investigation of the characteristics for transitional natural-convection flow in an open-ended inclined channel heated from below in the air under uniform heat flux intensity and non-Boussinesq condition. The investigated range of modified Rayleigh number and inclination is from 5.93 × 106 to 1.45 × 109 and 30–90 deg to the horizontal, respectively. Fine-resolution implicit large Eddy simulation is performed to solve the compressible governing equations using the modified preconditioned all-speed Roe scheme, hybrid boundary condition, and dual-time-stepping technique. The Nusselt number based on the maximum wall-temperature differs significantly while based on averaged wall-temperature is closer to the previously proposed laminar correlations. Transition is found to be pronounced at a lower angle of inclination (30 deg) for the considered heat flux intensity. The absolute magnitude of the critical length for the start and end of the transition when converted to nondimensional parameters is found to be higher compared to similar data for natural convection flow over a flat plate in water but the ratio of the end to start of the transition is found to be comparable. Single-roll longitudinal vortices periodically placed in spanwise direction exists in the transition region whose wavelength is found to be higher than those reported for channel flow under the isothermal condition and flow over a flat plate in water. Correlations for Nusselt number, critical aspect ratio, and vortex wavelength to the modified Rayleigh number are presented.