Natural convection heat transfer from linearly, circularly and parabolically bent plates: A study of shape effect

In the present study natural convection heat transfer from three differently bent shapes (linear, circular, and parabolic) has been investigated numerically for laminar flow in the range of Ra from 10(3) to 10(6). The simulations are carried out for different orientations by varying X/L from 1 to 0.3 keeping the surface area same for all the shapes. The present numerical study is able to capture a complete and very interesting picture of temperature plume and flow field over the bent plates. From the numerical results, it has been observed that heat loss from an upward bent plate is more compared to a downward bent plate for all the shapes at same Ra. Parabolically bent plate is most effective in losing heat compared to a linearly and circularly bent plate of same area. There is an optimum X/L for maximum heat loss for bent plate; further bending the plate reduces heat transfer slightly. The effects of parameters like X/L, Ra on average Nu from the top and bottom surface, total heat transfer, skin friction coefficient, temperature plume, and flow field are shown in the study which would enrich the literature archive tremendously.