Numerical Analysis of Natural Convection in a Right-Angle Triangular Enclosure

Abstract

A numerical investigation has been performed for heat transfer analysis in a right-angled triangular enclosure filled with water. The side wall of the enclosure is maintained at high temperature compare to the base wall while hypotenuse is kept thermally insulated. Two -dimensional steady-state continuity, momentum and energy equations along with the boussinesq approximation are solved by finite volume method using commercial available software, FLUENT 6.3. The computational results are shown in terms of isotherms, streamlines and velocity contour for Rayleigh number (10 5 ≤ Ra ≤ 10 7 ). The heat transfer is presented in terms of local and average Nusselt number. The result encapsulates that both flow field and temperature distributions are affected with Rayleigh number. The simulated results are validated with the experimental and numerical results and it shows a good agreement with the published results. Finally, a correlation for Nusselt number (Nu) with Rayleigh number (Ra) has been developed for vertical hot wall.