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ISSN Online: 2377-424X

International Heat Transfer Conference 12
August, 18-23, 2002, Grenoble, France

Measurement of the spanwise free convective heat transfer distribution on an inclined upward-facing heated plate

Get access (open in a dialog) DOI: 10.1615/IHTC12.1960
6 pages

Abstract

The variation of the free convective heat transfer rate across the span of an inclined upward-facing heated plate has been measured using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. Measurements were made in air on an isothermal surface at inclination angles of 5° and 18.5° from horizontal at a Grashof number based on the plate length of GrL~1.25×108. Infinite fringe interferograms were obtained to visualize the beam-averaged temperature field. The results show that the temperature field is strongly affected by the growth of longitudinal vortices in the developing boundary layer. In some cases, the instantaneous local Nusselt number was found to vary across the span of the plate by a factor of more than two.