The Stratification in Natural Convection in Vertical Enclosures

This paper presents theoretical results on natural convection in vertical air-filled enclosures with isothermal hot and cold walls. The flow is considered to be two-dimensional, laminar, and stationary. The effect of stratification of the fluid in the core region on the heat transfer and the natural convection flow is discussed. Local heat transfer relations considering this stratification are given. The Rayleigh number varied from 10⁴−10⁶, the aspect ratio from 1–18, and the side walls were both perfectly conducting and adiabatic.