Established Stripwise Laminar Natural Convection On A Horizontal Surface

A finite difference technique was used to analyze steady, laminar natural convection due to stripwise heating on an infinite, horizontal surface. The stripwise heating was accomplished by an array of alternately heated and unheated strips. Plots of the stream function and temperature field within a two-dimensional cell are given for a variety of heating and spacing configurations. From these results, the average Nusselt number was determined as a function of the Grashof number for a Prandtl number of 0.7. A plot of this dependence indicates diffusion, transition and plume modes exist, depending upon the value of the Grashof number. The present results are compared to previous experimental results for the same system, as well as results for uniformly heated surfaces. Higher heat transfer rates for the stripwise-heated surfaces compared to uniformly-heated surfaces are demonstrated for a wide range of Grashof numbers.