Bulletin of the American Physical Society
76th Annual Meeting of the Division of Fluid Dynamics
Sunday–Tuesday, November 19–21, 2023; Washington, DC
Session X17: Convection and Buoyancy-Driven Flows: General III
8:00 AM–10:36 AM,
Tuesday, November 21, 2023
Room: 145B
Chair: Andrew Wynn, Imperial College London
Abstract: X17.00011 : Prandtl Number Influence on Heat Transfer and Flow Dynamics in Narrow and Unbounded Differentially Heated Cavities
10:10 AM–10:23 AM
Presenter:
Tyler R Kennelly
(Purdue University)
Authors:
Tyler R Kennelly
(Purdue University)
Sadegh Dabiri
(Purdue University)
At low Prandtl numbers, we find that both the thermal and mean flow field exhibits distinct characteristics such as a higher prevalence of vortices, leading to a more complex and turbulent flow pattern and a more pronounced horizontal velocity. On the other hand, at high Prandtl numbers, a more stable flow field emerges. We conclude that Pr plays a crucial role in shaping the flow and heat transfer characteristics within the DHC, especially for Ra exceeding 10^7.
The turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) distribution in the cavity provides further evidence of the violent and energetic nature of low Prandtl, high Rayleigh number natural convection for both narrow and unbounded cavity geometries.
While a significant increase in the Nusselt (Nu) number is apparent with increases in Pr and Ra, Ra maintains its tradition 1/4-1/3 power law scaling regardless of Pr. Upon comparison of the geometries, narrow cavities exhibit a steep drop in Nu compared to unbounded cavities, especially at low Ra.
These insights shed light on the significance of the Prandtl number in influencing the convective flow patterns in DHC, offering valuable information for engineering applications involving natural convection and thermal transport phenomena.
Follow Us |
Engage
Become an APS Member |
My APS
Renew Membership |
Information for |
About APSThe American Physical Society (APS) is a non-profit membership organization working to advance the knowledge of physics. |
© 2025 American Physical Society
| All rights reserved | Terms of Use
| Contact Us
Headquarters
1 Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844
(301) 209-3200
Editorial Office
100 Motor Pkwy, Suite 110, Hauppauge, NY 11788
(631) 591-4000
Office of Public Affairs
529 14th St NW, Suite 1050, Washington, D.C. 20045-2001
(202) 662-8700