TY - JOUR
TI - Numerical investigation of natural convection heat transfer in a symmetrically cooled square cavity with a thin fin on its bottom wall
AU - Jani Saeid
AU - Mahmoodi Mostafa
AU - Amini Meysam
AU - Jam Jafar E
JN - Thermal Science
PY - 2014
VL - 18
IS - 4
SP - 1119
EP - 1132
PT - Article
AB - In the present paper, natural convection fluid flow and heat transfer in a  square cavity heated from below and cooled from sides and the ceiling with a  thin fin attached to its hot bottom wall is investigated numerically. The  right and the left walls of the cavity, as well as its horizontal top wall  are maintained at a constant temperature Tc, while the bottom wall is kept at  a constant temperature Th ,with Th > Tc. The governing equations are solved  numerically using the finite volume method and the couple between the  velocity and pressure fields is done using the SIMPLER algorithm. A  parametric study is performed and the effects of the Rayleigh number and the  length of the fin on the flow pattern and heat transfer inside the cavity are  investigated. Two competing mechanisms that are responsible for the flow and  thermal modifications are observed. One is the resistance effect of the fin  due to the friction losses which directly depends on the length of the fin,  whereas the other is due to the extra heating of the fluid that is offered by  the fin. It is shown that for high Rayleigh numbers, placing a hot fin at the  middle of the bottom wall has more remarkable effect on the flow field and  heat transfer inside the cavity.