Proceedings of the 37th National & 4th International Conference on Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Power

FMFP2010 December 16-18, 2010, IIT Madras, Chennai, India

446 FMFP2010_____ ___

EFFECT OF DISCRETE HEAT SOURCES ON NATURAL CONVECTION IN A SQUARE CAVITY

Jaikrishna. C. R Student, Department of Mechanical Engineering PES Institute of Technology, Bangalore-560 085, Karnataka, INDIA jaikrishna69@gmail.com Aswatha Department of Mechanical Engineering Bangalore Institute of Technology, Bangalore-560 004, Karnataka, INDIA aswath_bit@yahoo.co.in Rathan Ram. B Student, Department of Mechanical Engineering PES Institute of Technology, Bangalore-560 085, Karnataka, INDIA rathanram.b@gmail.com K. N. Seetharamu Department of Mechanical Engineering, PES Institute of Technology, Bangalore - 560 085, Karnataka, INDIA knseetharamu@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT In the present study a finite volume computational procedure is used to investigate natural convection in a square cavity. The enclosure used for flow and heat transfer analysis has been bounded by adiabatic top and bottom walls, constant temperature right cold wall and discretely heated left wall. Also the computations are carried out for with 25 % opening of cold wall at the top. The Rayleigh Number (Ra) varying from 103-107 and Pr = 0.7. When the Rayleigh number is increased, rate of heat transfer also increases and the maximum temperature at the heater surface decreases. The effect of convection is more dominant with partial opening. Best heat transfer was obtained when the heater element is placed at the center with minimum heating length and opening one. Key words: Natural convection; square cavity; discrete heat source; electronic cooling components 1. INTRODUCTION Natural convection in cavities has gained importance in many electronic applications. Natural convection cooling is desirable because it doesnt require energy source for cooling and hence more reliable. Air is taken as the cooling medium for cooling electronic components due to its simplicity and low cost. Microprocessors are treated as heat sources on flat surfaces. There are numerous studies in the literature regarding natural convection heat transfer in cavities. Aydin and Yang (2000) numerically investigated natural convection in enclosures with localized heating from below and symmetrically cooled from side walls. Nguyen and Prudhomme (2001) have studied convection flows in a rectangular cavity subjected to uniform heat flux. Salat et al. (2004) studied experimentally and numerically the turbulent natural convection in a large air-filled cavity.

NOMENCLATURE g acceleration due to gravity (m/s2) k thermal conductivity (W m-1 K-1) L side length of the square cavity (m) Nu local Nusselt number dimensional pressure (Pa) p Pr prandtl number q heat flux (W m-2) Ra Rayleigh number T temperature (K) Tc temperature of vertical wall (K)

u x- component of velocity v y- component of velocity Greek symbols thermal conductivity (m2s-1) volume expansion coefficient (K-1) Non - dimensional temperature kinematic viscosity (m2s-1) density (kg m-3) stream function Subscripts

D Fi g.1 .S ch em at i c di a gr am o f t he ph ys i cal s ys t em Bilgen and Oztop (2005) investigated numerically natural convection heat transfer in partially open inclined square cavities. They made an effort to study the steady state heat transfer by laminar natural convection in a two dimensional partially open cavities. Natural convection in cavities with constant flux heating at the bottom wall and isothermal cooling side walls have been studied by Sharif et al. (2005). The effect of aspect ratio, inclination angles and heat source length on the convection and heat transfer process in the cavities are analyzed. Kasayapanand (2007) studied the effect of electric field on natural convection in the partially opened square cavities by finite volume technique. Nithyadevi et al. (2007) studied the effect of aspect ratio on the natural convection of a fluid contained in a rectangular cavity with partially active

side walls. The active part of the left side wall was selected at a higher temperature than that of the right side wall. The top and bottom of the cavity and inactive part of the side walls were thermally insulated. Yasin Varol et al. (2007) have made efforts to understand the variable protruding heater length on Natural convection in triangular enclosures. Recently, Ayla DOGAN et al. (2009) studied numerically the heat transfer by natural convection from partially open cavities with one wall heated. In this study, the steady state investigation deals with natural convection heat transfer inside the cavity under uniform heat fluxes, different opening ratios, tilt angles and cavity aspect ratios for top and center opening positions. They found that the average heat transfer coefficient increases and the average wall temperature decreases, with the increase in opening ratio and decrease in the tilt angle. Best heat transfer was obtained with the aspect ratio 1, for opening ratio of 0.75 and tilt angle of 10 in the clockwise direction. The objective of the present paper is to investigate the effect of discrete heat sources on natural convection in a square cavity with and without opening on the cold wall. 2. MATHEMATICAL FORMULATION A square cavity illustrated in Fig.1 is chosen for simulating natural convective flow and heat transfer characteristics. The square cavity of length (L) has left wall with discrete heat sources of varying lengths and positions. The gravitational force is acting downwards. A buoyant flow develops because of thermally induced density gradient. The governing equations for natural convection flow are conservation of mass, momentum and energy equations, written as: Continuity: X-momentum:
u
u v + =0 x y

(1) (2)

u u 1 p 2u 2u +v =+ v 2 + 2 x y r x y x u v v 1 p 2v 2v +v = + v 2 + 2 + gb (T - Tc ) x y r y x y

Y-momentum:

(3)

Energy:

2T 2T T T + +v = a x 2 y 2 x y
L 3L to 4 4 L x = 0 , y = 0 to and 4 L x = 0 , y = 0 to and 4 3L 5L x =0, y = to 8 8
x =0, y =

(4)

No-slip boundary conditions are specified at all walls. Left side wall: case 1, case 2, case 3, case 4, Top and bottom wall: Right side wall: For opening at the right
T = q x 3L y= to L 4 L 3L y= to 2 4 T -k = q x -k T = q x T -k = q x

-k

(5)

Remaining lengths of the left side wall are adiabatic

T (x, L ) = 0 y

and

T ( x, 0 ) = 0 y
u v = =0 x x

T (0, y ) = T (L, y ) = Tc 3L wall: x = L , y = 4 to L ,

P=0

and

Where x and y are the dimensional co-ordinates along horizontal and vertical directions respectively; u and v are dimensional velocity components in x and y directions respectively; T is the temperature; p is the dimensional pressure; Here, the fluid is assumed to be Newtonian and the properties are constant. Only the Boussinesq approximation is invoked for the buoyancy term. The changes of variables are as follows:
T - Tc q= DT
q" L , k

DT =

Pr =

n a

and

Ra =

gb DTL3 Pr

n2

(6)

In the present investigation, the selected geometry has been modeled. The modeled geometry is discretized using Gambit 2.4. The meshed model is saved as data file and mesh file separately. The saved Gambit files are read in ANSYS FLUENT 6.3 to give specified boundary conditions, selection of fluid and fluid properties. The several cases mentioned earlier are solved for Ra ranging from 103 to 107. 3. Stream function and Nusselt number 3.1 Stream function The motion of buoyant driven fluid inside the cavity is represented by using the stream function obtained from velocity components u and v . The relationship between stream function, and velocity components for two dimensional flows are given by Batchelor (1993):
u= y y and v = y x
2y y
2

(7)

which yields to a single equation:

2y x
2

u v y x

(8)

The local heat transfer coefficient is defined as hy = q"/[Ts-Tc] at a given point on the heat source surface where Ts is the local temperature on the surface. Accordingly the local Nusselt number is obtained as Nu = (hy W)/k. The trapezoidal rule is used for numerical integration to obtain the average Nusselt number. 4. Numerical procedure The set of governing equations are integrated over the control volumes, which produces a set of algebraic equations. The PISO algorithm developed by Issa (1985) is used to solve the coupled system of governing equations. The set of algebraic equations are solved sequentially by ADI method. A second-order upwind differencing scheme is used for the formulation of the convection contribution to the coefficients in the finite-volume equations. Central differencing is used to discretize the diffusion terms. The computation is terminated when the entire residuals one below 105. 5. Verification of the present methodology The verification is made with reference to the results of Sharif and Taquiur (2005). The cavities used to study are bounded by uniform temperature vertical side walls and adiabatic top wall. The bottom wall is subjected to a uniform heat flux spread over from 20 % to 80 % of the length from centre and the remaining length is considered adiabatic. The Grashof number (Gr) is varied from 103 to 106. In order to obtain grid independent solution, a grid refinement study is performed for a square cavity 4

Fi g.2 C o n v e r g e n c e o f a v e r a g e N u s s e l t n u m b e r wi t h ( a ) G r i d r e f i n e m e n t a n d ( b ) S hari f and Taqui ur (2005 ). (AR = 1) with heating length = 0.6. Fig. 2(a) shows the convergence of the average Nu at the heated surface with grid refinement for Gr = 105 of Sharif and Taquiur (2005). Different grid sizes of 31 x 31, 41 x 41, 51 x 51 and 61 x 61 with uniform mesh as well as biasing have been studied. The grid 41 x 41 biasing ratio (BR) of 2 (The ratio of maximum cell to the minimum cell is 2, thus making cells finer near the wall) gave results identical to that of 61 x 61 uniform mesh. In view of this, 41 x 41 grid with biasing ratio 2 is used in all further computations. Fig. 2(b) shows variation of the Average Nusselt number with Sharif and Taquiur (2005). The percentage of error was within 2.4 %. This is found to be a good agreement with Sharif and Taquiur (2005). 6. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 6.1 Cavity without opening The flow and heat transfer characteristics in a square cavity have been studied for four different cases as illustrated in Fig. 1 without opening. Computations are carried out for Rayleigh number ranging from 103 to 107. The results are presented in the form of stream lines, isotherms, local Nu and average Nu for all four different cases.

Fig. 3 Contour plots for case 1 without opening of cold wall with Ra = 105. 5

Fig. 4 Contour plots for case 2 without opening of cold wall with Ra =105.

Fig.5 Contour plots for case 3 without opening of cold wall with Ra = 105.

Fig. 6 Contour plots for case 4 without opening of cold wall with Ra = 105. 6

Figs. 3 to 6 shows the streamlines and isotherms plots for all four different cases. For case 3 yields higher values of magnitudes of the stream functions as compared to first two cases and last one. The cells extend towards the bottom right corner of the cavity for all cases. From the temperature profiles it is observed that the contours are spread out the entire cavity except case 4 (25% of heating length). The temperature contours are concentrated at heating length as expected for all the cases. For case 4, the major temperature contours are settled at the top half of the cavity, except = 0.2 and 0.1. Figs. 4 & 5 show the plots for the discrete heat sources (Case 2 &3). It is observed that, the temperature profiles are closer to reach open at the top right portion indicating higher heat transfer at that location

Fig.7 Variation of local Nusselt number along the heating length The variation of local Nusselt number, along the heater element for four different cases and Rayleigh number 103, 105 & 107 is shown in Fig. 7. The heat transfer rate is higher at the center of the cavity and reduces towards the heater surface. The local Nusselt numbers are lower for split heat sources compared to continuous heating. Case 1 and case 4 yields the similar Nu because of heaters at the centre. In discrete heating (case 2 and 3) Heater A is giving the maximum Nu as compared to the other heaters. 7

Fig. 12 and Table 1 combinedly show the average Nu for all the cases. It is observed that the average Nu increase monotonically with increase of Ra. The average Nu is maximum for heater (C) Ra up to 105, but it is more for Ra = 106 and 107 for heater (B).

Fig. 8 Average Nusselt number Vs Rayleigh Number for cases 1 and 4. Table.1 Average Nusselt Number V/s. Rayleigh Number
Case 2 Ra 103 104 105 106 107 Heater - (A) Case 3 Heater - (B) Heater - (C) Heater - (D) % % % % Closed Open Closed Open Closed Open Closed Open increase increase increase increase 1.63 2.16 3.44 5.87 1.65 2.25 3.69 6.82 1.21 4.00 6.78 13.93 27.60 1.80 2.81 4.77 8.54 1.85 2.90 5.09 9.13 2.70 3.10 6.29 6.46 2.00 2.83 4.63 7.88 2.02 2.86 4.79 8.85 0.99 1.05 3.34 10.96 1.87 2.84 4.79 8.53 1.89 2.90 4.99 9.05 1.06 2.07 4.01 5.75

10.18 14.06

15.36 17.07 10.02

13.22 16.92 21.87

15.27 17.03 10.33

6. 2 Cavity with opening In order to increase the heat transfer rate, the 25 % of the length of the cold wall is opened at the top. Figs. 9-12 Show the streamlines and temperature plots for the same.

Fig.9 Contour plots for case 1 with 25% of opening at top cold wall with Ra = 105.

Fig. 10 Contour plots for case 2 with 25% of opening at top cold wall with Ra = 105.

Fig. 11 Contour plots for case 3 with 25% of opening at top cold wall with Ra = 105.

Fig. 12 Contour plots for case 4 with 25% of opening at top cold wall with Ra = 105. 9

It can be clearly seen from the plots drawn the streamlines and the temperature plots flow out of the cavity at the opening. Fig. 8 and Table 1 combinedly show the variation of average Nusselt number along the heated surface with Rayleigh Number for constant heating. The opening at the right cold wall has noticeable effect only after Ra > 5104. For lower Rayleigh numbers the effect of opening is negligible. For higher Rayleigh number (107) the opening has a significant effect that can be visualized by the increase in the local Nusselt number. Table.1. shows the Average Nusselt number for discrete heat sources (Case 2 & 4) with Rayleigh number. The heater (B) and (D) in case 2 and case 3 respectively have the same values due to its position. Heater (C) has a higher heat transfer rate than (A). This is because the heat transfer rate is higher at the center and gradually reduces towards the top wall. 7. Conclusions The flow and heat transfer characteristics for discrete heating configurations illustrated in the Fig.1 have been investigated. The following conclusions are drawn from the present study. (a) The conduction is dominated, for Ra 104 for all the cases of with and without opening in the cold right vertical wall. (b) For higher Rayleigh numbers where convection is dominated the opening has a significant effect on the average Nusselt number. (c) With the four different boundary conditions for the vertical wall the maximum heat transfer occurs for the case of heat source concentrated at the centre. 8. REFERENCES Aydin, O., Yang, J., 2000. Natural convection in enclosures with localized heating from below and symmetrical cooling from sides, Int. J. Numer. Methods Heat Fluid Flow, 10, 518-529. Ayla DOGAN., BAYSAL, S., Senol BASKAYA., 2009. Numerical analysis of natural convection heat transfer from partially open cavities heated at one wall, J. of Thermal Science and Technology 29, 1, 79-90. Batchelor, G.K., 1993. An introduction to fluid dynamics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. Bilgen, E., Oztop, H., 2005. Natural convection heat transfer in partially open inclined square cavities, Int. J. of Heat and Mass Transfer, 48, 1470-1479. Issa, R.I., 1985. Solution of the implicitly discretised fluid flow equations by operatorsplitting, J. Comput. Phys. 62, 40-65. Kasayapanand, N., 2007. Numerical modeling of natural convection in partially open cavities under electric field, Int. Comm. Heat Mass Transfer 34, 630-643. Muhammad, A.R. Sharif., Taquiur Rahman Mohammad., 2005. Natural convection in cavities with constant flux heating at the bottom wall and isothermal cooling from the sidewalls, Int. J. of Thermal Sciences, 44, 865878. Nguyen, T.H., Prudhomme, M., 2001. Bifurcation of convection flows in a rectangular cavity subjected to uniform heat fluxes, Int. Comm. Heat Mass Transfer, 28, 23-30. Nithyadevi, N., Kandaswamy, P., Lee J., 2007. Natural convection in a rectangular cavity with partially active side walls, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 50, 4688-4697. Salat J., Xin S., Joubert P., Sergent A., Penot F., Le Quere P., 2004. Experimental and numerical investigation of turbulent natural convection in a large air-filled cavity, Int. J. Heat Fluid Flow 25, 824-832. Yasin Varol., Hakan, Oztop, F., Tuncay Yilmaz., 2007. Natural convection in triangular enclosures with protruding isothermal heater, Int. J. of Heat and Mass Transfer, 50, 2451-2462. 10