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1 – 10 of over 2000
Article
Publication date: 8 May 2018

An Yu, Xianwu Luo, Dandan Yang and Jiajian Zhou

This paper aims to gain a clear understanding of the ventilated cavity evolution around an NACA0015 hydrofoil by using both experimental and numerical investigation.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to gain a clear understanding of the ventilated cavity evolution around an NACA0015 hydrofoil by using both experimental and numerical investigation.

Design/methodology/approach

The bubble evolution around an NACA0015 hydrofoil with or without air injection was observed in a water tunnel, and the simulation was conducted using a modified turbulence model and homogeneous cavitation model.

Findings

The present simulation method can successfully predict the bubble evolutions around the NACA0015 hydrofoil with or without air injection. Air injection can alleviate the nature cavitation oscillation, and the suppression effect on nature cavitation depends on the air-entrant coefficient. It is confirmed that the air and vapor cavity have the same shedding frequency. It is seen that the air sheet closely attaches to the hydrofoil surface and is surrounded by the vapor sheet. Thus, the injected air promotes vapor growth and results in an increase in the cavity shedding frequency. Further, with a large air-entrant coefficient, the pressure fluctuation is suppressed completely.

Originality/value

The new simulation method is adopted to explore the mechanism of ventilated cavitation. The bubble evolutions with and without air injection have been comprehensively studied by experimental and numerical investigation. The effects of air injection on natural cavity oscillations and pressure fluctuations have been revealed in the present study.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. 35 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 October 2019

Zohir Younsi, Lounes Koufi and Hassane Naji

A comprehensive investigation on the outlet air position effects on the thermal comfort and air quality has been achieved. In addition, airflow and temperature distributions in…

Abstract

Purpose

A comprehensive investigation on the outlet air position effects on the thermal comfort and air quality has been achieved. In addition, airflow and temperature distributions in ventilated cavities filled with an air-CO2 mixture with mixed convection are predicted. The airflow enters from the cavity through an opening in the lower side of the left vertical wall and exits through the opening in one wall of the cavity. This paper aims to investigate the outlet location effect, four different placement configurations of output ports are considered. Three of them are placed on the upper side and the fourth on top of the opposite side of the inlet opening. A uniform heat and CO2 contaminant source are applied on the left vertical wall, while the remaining walls are impermeable and adiabatic to heat and solute. The cooling efficiency inside the enclosure and the average fluid temperature are computed for different Reynolds and Rayleigh numbers to find the most suitable fluid outlet position that ensures indoor comfortable conditions while effectively removing heat and the contaminant. This is demonstrated by three relevant indices, namely, the effectiveness for heat removal, the contaminant removal and the index of indoor air quality.

Design/methodology/approach

The simulations were performed via the finite-volume scSTREAM CFD solver V11. Three different values of CO2 amount are considered, namely, 103, 2 × 103 and 3 × 103 ppm, the Reynolds number being in the range 100 ≤ Re ≤ 800.

Findings

Based on the findings obtained, it is the configuration whose air outlet is placed near the heat source and the contaminant, which provides a better air distribution and a ventilation efficiency compared to the others ventilation strategies.

Originality/value

The studies on heat and mass transfers by natural and forced convection in ventilated cavities remain a fruitful research topic. Thereby, such a study deals with different ventilation strategies through cavities containing an air-CO2 mixture subjected to a mixed regime. In particular, the air inlet velocity and contaminant sources’ effects on thermal comfort and air quality have been investigated.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 29 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 December 2020

Sayuj Sasidharan and Pradip Dutta

This paper aims to deal with characterisation of the thermal performance of a hybrid tubular and cavity solar thermal receiver.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to deal with characterisation of the thermal performance of a hybrid tubular and cavity solar thermal receiver.

Design/methodology/approach

The coupled optical-flow-thermal analysis is carried out on the proposed receiver design. Modelling is performed in two and three dimensions for estimating heat loss by natural convection for an upward-facing cavity. Heat loss obtained in two dimensions by solving coupled continuity, momentum and energy equation inside the cavity domain is compared with the loss obtained using an established Nusselt number correlation for realistic receiver performance prediction.

Findings

It is found that radiation emission from a heated cavity wall to the ambient is the dominant mode of heat loss from the receiver. The findings recommend that fluid flow path must be designed adjacent to the surface exposed to irradiation of concentrated flux to limit conduction heat loss.

Research limitations/implications

On-sun experimental tests need to be performed to validate the numerical study.

Practical implications

Numerical analysis of receivers provides guidelines for effective and efficient solar thermal receiver design.

Social implications

Pressurised air receivers designed from this method can be integrated with Brayton cycles using air or supercritical carbon-dioxide to run a turbine generating electricity using a solar heat source.

Originality/value

The present paper proposes a novel method for coupling the flux map from ray-tracing analysis and using it as a heat flux boundary condition for performing coupled flow and heat transfer analysis. This is achieved using affine transformation implemented using extrusion coupling tool from COMSOL Multiphysics software package. Cavity surface natural convection heat transfer coefficient is obtained locally based on the surface temperature distribution.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 31 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 September 2004

Antonio Campo and Mark D. Landon

A detailed review of the archival literature on: fluid dynamics, heat transfer and shape optimization reveals that the optimal shape of natural convective cavities has not been…

Abstract

A detailed review of the archival literature on: fluid dynamics, heat transfer and shape optimization reveals that the optimal shape of natural convective cavities has not been investigated so far, and of course, its physical features are not understood. A prominent application of cavities cooled by natural convection arises in the miniaturization of electronic packaging where some type of temperature constraint must be applied at the directly heated wall. This contemporary issue has been addressed in the present work in an elegant manner by linking a code on computational fluid dynamics with a shape optimization code. Once the velocity and temperature fields were accurately computed for an initial cavity with a certain heat load, a two‐step optimization procedure was implemented in a methodical fashion. A first optimization sub‐problem transformed a square cavity into a rectangular cavity, while the second optimization sub‐problem sculpted the shape of the upper horizontal insulated wall in order to bring down the maximum wall temperature of the directly heated vertical wall, i.e. the so‐called “hot spot”. A bird's eye inspection of the numerical results revealed that the first optimization sub‐problem produced a significant reduction in area (volume), while raising the maximum wall temperature of the heated vertical wall by a small amount. The second optimization sub‐problem supplied a remarkable decrease in the maximum wall temperature of the heated vertical wall, carrying with it a moderate increase in area (volume). At the end, the optimal shape of the cavity turns out to be a disfigured vertical rectangular cavity in which the upper insulated wall forming a parabolic‐skewed cap.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 14 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 February 2021

Leo Lukose and Tanmay Basak

The purpose of this paper is to address various works on mixed convection and proposes 10 unified models (Models 1–10) based on various thermal and kinematic conditions of the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to address various works on mixed convection and proposes 10 unified models (Models 1–10) based on various thermal and kinematic conditions of the boundary walls, thermal conditions and/ or kinematics of objects embedded in the cavities and kinematics of external flow field through the ventilation ports. Experimental works on mixed convection have also been addressed.

Design/methodology/approach

This review is based on 10 unified models on mixed convection within cavities. Models 1–5 involve mixed convection based on the movement of single or double walls subjected to various temperature boundary conditions. Model 6 elucidates mixed convection due to the movement of single or double walls of cavities containing discrete heaters at the stationary wall(s). Model 7A focuses mixed convection based on the movement of wall(s) for cavities containing stationary solid obstacles (hot or cold or adiabatic) whereas Model 7B elucidates mixed convection based on the rotation of solid cylinders (hot or conductive or adiabatic) within the cavities enclosed by stationary or moving wall(s). Model 8 is based on mixed convection due to the flow of air through ventilation ports of cavities (with or without adiabatic baffles) subjected to hot and adiabatic walls. Models 9 and 10 elucidate mixed convection due to flow of air through ventilation ports of cavities involving discrete heaters and/or solid obstacles (conductive or hot) at various locations within cavities.

Findings

Mixed convection plays an important role for various processes based on convection pattern and heat transfer rate. An important dimensionless number, Richardson number (Ri) identifies various convection regimes (forced, mixed and natural convection). Generalized models also depict the role of “aiding” and “opposing” flow and combination of both on mixed convection processes. Aiding flow (interaction of buoyancy and inertial forces in the same direction) may result in the augmentation of the heat transfer rate whereas opposing flow (interaction of buoyancy and inertial forces in the opposite directions) may result in decrease of the heat transfer rate. Works involving fluid media, porous media and nanofluids (with magnetohydrodynamics) have been highlighted. Various numerical and experimental works on mixed convection have been elucidated. Flow and thermal maps associated with the heat transfer rate for a few representative cases of unified models [Models 1–10] have been elucidated involving specific dimensionless numbers.

Originality/value

This review paper will provide guidelines for optimal design/operation involving mixed convection processing applications.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 31 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 22 June 2022

Serena Summa, Alex Mircoli, Domenico Potena, Giulia Ulpiani, Claudia Diamantini and Costanzo Di Perna

Nearly 75% of EU buildings are not energy-efficient enough to meet the international climate goals, which triggers the need to develop sustainable construction techniques with…

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Abstract

Purpose

Nearly 75% of EU buildings are not energy-efficient enough to meet the international climate goals, which triggers the need to develop sustainable construction techniques with high degree of resilience against climate change. In this context, a promising construction technique is represented by ventilated façades (VFs). This paper aims to propose three different VFs and the authors define a novel machine learning-based approach to evaluate and predict their energy performance under different boundary conditions, without the need for expensive on-site experimentations

Design/methodology/approach

The approach is based on the use of machine learning algorithms for the evaluation of different VF configurations and allows for the prediction of the temperatures in the cavities and of the heat fluxes. The authors trained different regression algorithms and obtained low prediction errors, in particular for temperatures. The authors used such models to simulate the thermo-physical behavior of the VFs and determined the most energy-efficient design variant.

Findings

The authors found that regression trees allow for an accurate simulation of the thermal behavior of VFs. The authors also studied feature weights to determine the most relevant thermo-physical parameters. Finally, the authors determined the best design variant and the optimal air velocity in the cavity.

Originality/value

This study is unique in four main aspects: the thermo-dynamic analysis is performed under different thermal masses, positions of the cavity and geometries; the VFs are mated with a controlled ventilation system, used to parameterize the thermodynamic behavior under stepwise variations of the air inflow; temperatures and heat fluxes are predicted through machine learning models; the best configuration is determined through simulations, with no onerous in situ experimentations needed.

Details

Construction Innovation , vol. 24 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-4175

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 June 2019

Sana Ben Salah and Mohamed Bechir Ben Hamida

The purpose of this paper is to optimize the configuration of a heat sink with phase change material for improving the cooling performance of light emitting diodes (LED).

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to optimize the configuration of a heat sink with phase change material for improving the cooling performance of light emitting diodes (LED).

Design/methodology/approach

A numerical three-dimensional time-dependent model is developed with COMSOL Multiphysics to simulate the phase change material melting process during both the charging and discharging period.

Findings

The model is validated with previously published works. It found a good agreement. The difference between filled cavities with phase change materials (PCM) and alternate cavities air-PCM is discussed. The last-mentioned showed a good ability for reducing the junction temperature during the melting time. Three cases of this configuration having the same total volume of PCM but a different number of cavities are compared. The case of ten fins with five PCM cavities is preferred because it permit a reduction of 21 per cent of the junction temperature with an enhancement ratio of 2:4. The performance of this case under different power input is verified.

Originality/value

The use of alternate air-PCM cavities of the heat sink. The use of PCM in LED to delay the peak temperature in the case of thermal shock (for example, damage of fan) An amount of energy is stored in the LED and it is evacuated to the ambient of the accommodation by the cycle of charging and discharging established (1,765 Joule stored and released each 13 min with 1 LED chip of 5 W).

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 29 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2006

El Hassan Ridouane and Antonio Campo

Sets out to discuss laminar free convection characteristics of air confined to a square cavity and a horizontal rectangular cavity (aspect ratio A=2) along with the viable…

Abstract

Purpose

Sets out to discuss laminar free convection characteristics of air confined to a square cavity and a horizontal rectangular cavity (aspect ratio A=2) along with the viable isosceles triangular cavities and right‐angle triangular cavities that may be inscribed inside the two original cavities.

Design/methodology/approach

The three distinct cavities shared the base wall as the heated wall, while the remaining sides and upper walls are cold. The finite volume method is used to perform the numerical computation of the transient conservation equations of mass, momentum and energy. The methodology takes into account the second‐order‐accurate quick scheme for the discretization of the convective term, whereas the pressure‐velocity coupling is handled with the simple scheme. The working fluid is air, which is not assumed as a Boussinesqian gas, so that all influencing thermophysical properties of air are taken as temperature‐dependent. The cavity problem is examined over a variety of height‐based Grashof numbers ranging from 103 to 106.

Findings

Numerical results are reported for the velocity fields, the temperature field as well as the local and mean wall heat fluxes along the heated base wall. It was found that the airflow remains symmetric for the isosceles triangular cavity with aspect ratio A=1 even at high Grashof numbers. In contrast, for an isosceles triangular cavity with an aspect ratio A=2, a pitchfork bifurcation begins to form at a critical Grashof number of 2 × 105, breaking the airflow symmetry. The computed local and mean heat fluxes along the hot base wall are compared for the three configurations under study and the corresponding maximum heat transfer levels are clearly identified for the two aspect ratios A=1 and 2.

Research limitations/implications

As a continuity of this work, there are two avenues that future research could explore and indeed are presently being explored by the authors within these geometries. The first deals with heat transfer enhancement using mixture of gases. The second is to re‐examine the problem under turbulent conditions.

Originality/value

The present study seeks to maximize the convection heat transport in cavities and minimize their sizes. The peculiarity of the derived cavities is their cross‐section area being half of the cross‐section area of the basic cavities.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 16 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 December 2018

Alireza Rahimi, Ali Dehghan Saee, Abbas Kasaeipoor and Emad Hasani Malekshah

The purpose of this paper is to carry out a comprehensive review of some latest studies devoted to natural convection phenomenon in the enclosures because of its significant…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to carry out a comprehensive review of some latest studies devoted to natural convection phenomenon in the enclosures because of its significant industrial applications.

Design/methodology/approach

Geometries of the enclosures have considerable influences on the heat transfer which will be important in energy consumption. The most useful geometries in engineering fields are treated in this literature, and their effects on the fluid flow and heat transfer are presented.

Findings

A great variety of geometries included with different physical and thermal boundary conditions, heat sources and fluid/nanofluid media are analyzed. Moreover, the results of different types of methods including experimental, analytical and numerical are obtained. Different natures of natural convection phenomenon including laminar, steady-state and transient, turbulent are covered. Overall, the present review enhances the insight of researchers into choosing the best geometry for thermal process.

Originality/value

A comprehensive review on the most practical geometries in the industrial application is performed.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 29 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 April 2010

Joaquín Fernández Madrid

The purpose of this paper is to design and develop a model for testing watertightness of rainscreen walls.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to design and develop a model for testing watertightness of rainscreen walls.

Design/methodology/approach

A test model was developed to determine the time to achieve equalisation and tightness rate of the rainscreen under investigation. Other tests include the distribution of wind loads to each rain screen layer, with the amount of water infiltrating into the cavity and the tightness rates.

Findings

It is found that the cavity must be compartmentalized, separating zones with different pressures. Vertically, corners and lateral stripes, 2 or 3m wide, must necessarily be compartmentalized. Horizontally, it is very convenient to compartmentalize the cavities of each floor, or at least every two floors (maximum 6m). When a cavity is not compartmentalized and tight, there will be air currents moving inside the cavity, and therefore the amount of infiltrated water through vents and joints will increase.

Originality/value

The paper demonstrates its value by developing a model to investigate the watertightness of rainscreen walls.

Details

Structural Survey, vol. 28 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-080X

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 2000