Natural convection heat transfer in overlapping discrete plate arrays

A numerical solution of the boundary layer equations was obtained using a finite difference formulation for natural convection in an array of vertical overlapping discrete plate segments. The results obtained are presented along with a comparison with the results for a continuous plate array. It was found that the overlapping arrays can enhance the heat transfer rate by as much as 80-90% for fixed values of the wall-to-ambient temperature difference and heat transfer area. The attainment of heat transfer enhancement by the use of discrete plates is possible only in certain ranges of the modified Rayleigh number. © 1994.