Natural convection in a square cavity containing two heat-generating cylinders with different geometries

This work presents a numerical study of laminar natural convection in an air-filled square cavity (Pr = 0.71). Inside this cavity, there are two cylinders having the same surface and different geometric shapes (square, circular, and elliptical). These two cylinders generate uniform volume powers represented by two Rayleigh numbers. The right wall of the cavity is cooled uniformly with a constant temperature Tc, while the other walls are assumed to be perfectly insulated. Numerical simulations are performed with an in-house CFD code using the Finite Volume Method (FVM) based on the SIMPLE algorithm. The objective of this study is to determine the effects of the two studied Rayleigh numbers (ranging from 103 to 107) and the effect of the cylinders' geometry on the temperature and flow fields, as well as on the local heat transfer. The results obtained show that Rayleigh numbers significantly affect the flow and heat transfer in the cavity. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Fourth edition of the International Conference on Materials & Environmental Science.

Automated summary

This study presents a numerical investigation of laminar natural convection in an air-filled square cavity with different geometrical cylinders. The results show that Rayleigh numbers have a significant impact on flow and heat transfer within the cavity.