ISSN Online: 2377-424X
ISBN Print: 0-85295-345-3
International Heat Transfer Conference 10
Natural Convection on a Vertical Flat Plate at General Boundary Condition
Abstract
In most analytical models of natural convection on
a vertical flat plate, the boundary condition on the
plate is either a uniform wall temperature or a uniform
constant heat flux. The present work considers natural
convection on a flat plate at a general boundary
condition, namely the other side of the plate is exposed
to an environment of a constant temperature with
which heat is exchanged at an effective heat transfer
coefficient (EHTC). By selecting suitable velocity and
temperature profiles, the integral form of the
governing differential equations are solved, using an
analytical-numerical scheme. Both the laminar and the
turbulent regimes are considered. The calculated
results give the distributions of the temperatures and of
the heat fluxes along the plate with the EHTC as a
parameter, from which the Nusselt number can be
found. For the special case where EHTC is large
enough, comparisons for the flow and heat transfer
characteristic are made with that of a uniform wall
temperature given in the literature. Good agreement is
found.