Scaling laws for natural convection boundary layer of a Pr > 1 fluid on a vertical solid surface subject to a sinusoidal heating flux in a linearly stratified ambient

Abstract

The understanding of the transient behavior of the natural convection boundary layer on a heated vertical solid surface is crucial for numerous applications. In this study, scaling analysis is performed to derive the scaling laws for the major parameters that characterize the transient behavior of natural convection boundary layer of a Prandtl number larger than 1 fluid on a vertical solid surface subject to a sinusoidal heating flux in a linearly stratified ambient. It is found that the developed scaling laws are in good agreement with the direct numerical simulation results over wide ranges of Prandtl number, stratification parameter, and frequency of the sinusoidal heat flux.