ISSN Online: 2377-424X
ISBN CD: 1-56700-226-9
ISBN Online: 1-56700-225-0
International Heat Transfer Conference 13
HP-ADAPTIVE FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR MODELING 3-D NATURAL CONVECTIVE HEAT TRANSFER IN A PARTITIONED ENCLOSURE
Abstract
An hp-adaptive FEM model based on mesh refinement and increasing spectral order is developed. The adaptive FEM produces highly accurate numerical results with minimal added computational cost. An L2 norm based a-posteriori error estimator is used to guide the adaptive procedure. A projection algorithm is employed as the flow solver. The numerical algorithm is first benchmarked using well-known 2-D and 3-D natural convection studies for a differentially heated enclosure; results agree well with the published data. The model is applied to 3-D natural convection within an enclosed partition.