Free convection generated in an enclosure by alternate heated bands. Experimental and numerical study adapted to electronics thermal control

The present work relates to the thermal control by natural convection of the electronic assemblies contained in confined spaces. We have performed a numerical and experimental study to determine the thermal behaviour in a cavity where the electronic assembly is a wall made of discrete hot sources under dynamic operation. The treated cavity is an air-filled cube that consists of two active opposing walls connected by a channel. The channel is adiabatic and the two active walls are the responsible of the natural convection flow inside the cavity. The cold wall is maintained isothermal at temperature T-c. The second active wall consists of 5 bands of which 3 are heated and maintained at T-h, separated by 2 other adiabatic bands. The active walls can be vertical but they can also be tilted an angle a respect to the gravity direction. Calculations in steady-state regime are carried out by means of the finite volumes method. The dynamic and thermal aspects are examined for several configurations obtained while varying the difference of temperatures Delta T = T-h - T-c and the inclination angle of the cavity. This study covers a wide range of Rayleigh number Ra going from 10(3) to 3 x 10(8) and inclination angles alpha between 0 degrees and 360 degrees. The results can be applied in particular to the field of airborne electronics, which is affected by specific thermal conditions. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.