Natural convection in polygonal enclosures with inner circular cylinder

Abstract

This study investigates the natural convection induced by a temperature difference between cold outer polygonal enclosure and hot inner circular cylinder. The governing equations are solved numerically using built-in finite element method of COMSOL. The governing parameters considered are the number of polygonal sides, aspect ratio, radiation parameter, and Rayleigh number. We found that the number of contra-rotative cells depended on polygonal shapes. The convection heat transfer becomes constant at L / D > 0 . 77 and the polygonal shapes are no longer sensitive to the Nusselt number profile.