Laminar natural convection in a discretely heated cavity .2. Comparisons of experimental and theoretical results

Three-dimensional numerical predictions and experimental data have been obtained for natural convection from a 3 X 3 array of discrete heat sources flush-mounted on one vertical wall of a rectangular cavity and cooled by the opposing wall. Predictions performed in a companion paper (Heindel et al., 1995a) revealed that three-dimensional edge effects are significant and that, with increasing Rayleigh number, flow and heat transfer become more uniform across each heater face. The three-dimensional predictions are in excellent agreement with the data of this study, whereas a two-dimensional model of the experimental geometry underpredicts average heat transfer by as much as 20 percent. Experimental row-averaged Nusselt numbers are well correlated with a Rayleigh number exponent of 0.25 for Ra-L. less than or similar to 1.2 X 10(8).