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Laminar fluid convection between concentric and eccentric heated horizontal rotating cylinders for low‐Prandtl‐number fluids
Author(s) -
Lee T. S.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
international journal for numerical methods in fluids
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.938
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1097-0363
pISSN - 0271-2091
DOI - 10.1002/fld.1650140904
Subject(s) - prandtl number , nusselt number , reynolds number , mechanics , laminar flow , rayleigh number , taylor number , vorticity , cylinder , turbulent prandtl number , natural convection , physics , classical mechanics , mathematics , geometry , vortex , turbulence , convection
Numerical experiments are performed to study rotational effects on the mixed convection of low‐Prandtlnumber fluids enclosed between the annuli of concentric and eccentric horizontal cylinders. The inner cylinder is assumed to be heated and rotating. The rotational Reynolds number considered is in the range where the effect of Taylor vortices is negligible. The Prandtl number of the fluid considered is in the range 0·01–1·0. The Rayleigh number considered is up to 10 6 . A non‐uniform mesh transformation technique coupled with the introduction of ‘false transient’ parameters to the vorticity and streamfunction‐vorticity expressions was used to solve the governing set of equations. Results show that when the inner cylinder is made to rotate, the multicellular flow patterns observed in stationary cylindrical annuli subside in a manner depending on the Prandtl number of the fluids. Eventually the flow tends toward a uniform flow similar to that of a solid body rotation. For a fixed Rayleigh number and with a Prandtl number of the order of 1·0, when the inner cylinder is made to rotate, the mean Nusselt number is observed to decrease throughout the flow. For lower Prandtl number of the order 0·1–0·01 the mean Nusselt number remained fairly constant when the inner cylinder was made to rotate. The mean Nusselt numbers obtained were also compared with available data from other investigators.