Channel flow past bluff-body: outlet boundary condition, vortex shedding and effects of buoyancy

Abstract

 Structure of laminar flow and heat transfer, in a two-dimensional horizontal plane channel differentially heated, with a built-in triangular prism is investigated from the numerical solutions of complete Navier–Stokes and energy equations. Results are obtained for Reynolds and Grashof numbers ranging respectively from 30 to 200 and from 0 to 1.5 × 10⁴ at Pr=0.71. In forced convection, results are specially presented to show how the vortex shedding at downstream affects the upstream. Also, two correlations giving the Strouhal and the averaged Nusselt numbers as functions of the Reynolds number are proposed. In mixed convection, the superposition of Von Karman street and convective cells is discussed.