Numerical simulation of incompressible laminar flow in a three-dimensional channel with a cubical open cavity with a bottom wall heated

A three-dimensional numerical simulation study for both laminar steady and unsteady regimes has been carried out for the mixed convective flow over a three-dimensional cubical open cavity. The cavity is heated from below at constant temperature while the other walls are adiabatic. The numerical simulation has been done using a three-dimensional incompressible finite volume flow solver. The effects over the velocity and temperature distribution of the buoyancy forces acting perpendicular to the mainstream flow are studied for Reynolds numbers (Re) between 100 and 1500; Prandtl number (Pr) is set to 0.7 and Richardson number (Ri) between 10(-3) to 10(1). The phenomenological description of the mixed convection inside and outside the cavity and the combined effects of the natural and forced convection have been obtained. For both high Re and Ri the flow becomes unsteady. The mixed convection effects dominate the flow transport mechanism and push the recirculation zone and the flow further upstream.