TY - JOUR
TI - Transient characteristics of coupled thermal radiation and natural convection in a 3-D cylindrical cavity containing a heated plate
AU - Wang Tianxiang
AU - Qiu Yinan
AU - Lei Gang
AU - Zhang Jinjin
AU - Huang Yonghua
AU - Yang Guang
JN - Thermal Science
PY - 2023
VL - 27
IS - 3
SP - 2377
EP - 2390
PT - Article
AB - In this study, a numerical study of transient combined natural-convection and surface radiation in a cylindrical cavity with a heated plate placed inside is carried out using the open-source platform OpenFOAM. The effects of the Rayleigh number (105 ≤ Ra ≤ 107), inclination angle (0º ≤ φ ≤ 90º), and surface emissivity (0 ≤ ε ≤ 1) on the velocity components, temperature field, and Nusselt number are investigated in detail. Results show that the Rayleigh number has a greater effect on the radiative heat transfer than on natural-convection. Radiative heat transfer increases monotonously with the increase of surface emissivity, and its contribution could be over 50% of the total heat transfer rate. The inclination angle of the plate affects the flow structure, but the difference in total Nusselt number is less than 10% for various inclination angles. Results in this study provide insights into the transient characteristics of coupled thermal radiation and natural-convection in a 3-D cavity and will guide the optimal design of related devices.