Investigation of convective heat transfer in ducts of triangular shapes

Abstract

Natural convection heat transfer is a broad issue with many applications, including industrial, environmental, and other fields. This work studies the effects of enclosing a hot triangular entity inside a cooler triangular one. These temperature gradients cause local density gradients and buoyancy effects, which drive the flow of the fluid within the container. The impacts of shape of the inner triangle for a certain aspect ratio are investigated in this study. Both triangles are equilateral. The simulations are performed using Rayleigh numbers from 103 to 107. Higher Rayleigh number, when the heat transfer regime becomes more convective, shows increased fluid movement. The findings of these phenomena are provided in terms of isotherms and streamlines in order to be analyzed. Average Nusselt numbers are also explored in function of Rayleigh and aspect ratio.