HEAT TRANSFER BY NATURAL CONVECTION ACROSS VERTICAL AIR LAYERS

Abstract
Finite-difference predictions of natural convection in vertical air layers are reported for a wide range of Rayleigh numbers and aspect ratios. Calculations were carried out for both perfectly conducting and adiabatic boundaries at the top and bottom ends of the layer. Comparisons between the predictions and measurements show that the calculated heat transfer rates are valid only over a limited range of parameters, and that the points of departure correlate closely with predicted points of instability.