Numerical simulation of conjugate, turbulent mixed convection heat transfer in a vertical channel with discrete heat sources

This paper presents the results of a comprehensive numerical study to analyze turbulent mixed convection in a vertical channel with a flush-mounted discrete heat source in each channel wall. The conjugate heat transfer problem is solved to study the effect of various parameters like the thermal conductivity of the wall material (ks), the thermal conductivity of the flush-mounted discrete heat source (kc), Reynolds number (Res), modified Richardson number (Ri*) and the aspect ratio of the channel (AR). The standard k-ε turbulence model, modified by including buoyancy effects, without wall functions, has been used for the analysis. The two-dimensional governing equations are discretised on a semi-staggered, non-uniform grid, using the finite volume method. The asymptotic computational fluid dynamics (ACFD) technique has been then applied to obtain a correlation for the non-dimensional maximum temperature θ-max, which can be used for a wide range of parameters. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.