Low turbulence natural convection in an air cavity filled square cavity - Part I: the thermal and fluid flow fields

An experimental study of low level turbulence natural convection in an air filled vertical square cavity was conducted. The dimensions of cavity were 0.75 m x 0.75 m x 1.5 m giving two-dimensional flow. The hot and cold walls of the cavity were isothermal at 50 and 10 degrees C, respectively, giving a Rayleigh number of 1.58 x 10(9). The temperature and velocity distribution was systematically measured at different locations in the cavity, and was nearly anti-symmetrical. An experimentally obtained contour plot of the thermal field and a vector plot of the air flow in the cavity are reported for low turbulence natural convection in such cavities for the first time. The wall shear stress and the local and average Nusselt numbers are also presented. The Nusselt number compares well with previous results; the agreement on the velocity and temperature profiles at mid-height near the vertical walls is fair. Differences were found at mid-width and in the rate of velocity and temperature changes near the walls. The experiments were conducted with high accuracy. Therefore, the results can form experimental benchmark data and will be useful for CFD code validation. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.