Investigations on multimode heat transfer from a heated vertical plate

The interaction of surface radiation and conduction with natural convection heat transfer from a vertical flat plate assembly, with an embedded heater, has been investigated, both experimentally (using differential interferometer) and numerically (using FLUENT), in the present work. In the absence of radiation, the asymptotic limits that can be attained by the heated plate are isothermal and isoflux conditions. High values of plate thermal conductivity tend to make the surface isothermal, where as, lower values of thermal conductivity tend to make it isoflux. Irrespective of the thermal conductivity of the plate, an increase in the emissivity reduces the average temperature of the plate and brings the plate toward isothermal condition. A new methodology has also been proposed to determine the thermophysical properties, emissivity and thermal conductivity, the consistency of which is tested by carrying out experiments for various heat inputs and comparing the estimated values with those available in literature. © 2010 by ASME.