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On free convection experiments in inclined air layers heated from below

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 April 2006

Douglas W. Ruth
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Present address: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4.
K. G. T. Hollands
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
G. D. Raithby
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Abstract

The heat transfer and free convective motion, in inclined air layers heated from below, for angles of incidence 0 [les ] ϕ [les ] 30°, and Rayleigh numbers 100 < Ra cos ϕ < 10000, are studied experimentally. Results of both heat-transfer measurements and flow-visualization studies are reported. The purpose of the study was to investigate the fact, first noted by Hollands et al. (1976), that the experimental heat-transfer data, for ϕ > 20°, is not a function of the product Ra cos ϕ only, as expected from theoretical consideration. This discrepancy between theory and experiment is here attributed to a hypothesized secondary transition in the convective motion, due primarily to perturbation velocities in the upslope direction. This secondary transition appears to be the same as that predicted theoretically by Clever & Busse (1977); qualitative agreement with their theory is observed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1980 Cambridge University Press

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