COMBINED EFFECT OF INERTIA AND A SPANWISE PRESSURE GRADIENT ON FREE CONVECTION FROM A VERTICAL SURFACE IN POROUS MEDIA

• Published in: Numerical heat transfer. Part A, Applications Vol. 36; no. 7; pp. 725 - 736
• Main Authors: REES, D. A. S, HOSSAIN, M. A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Informa UK Ltd 26.11.1999; Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: Boundary layer flow; BOUNDARY LAYERS; CALCULATION METHODS; Convection and heat transfer; ENGINEERING; Equations of motion; Exact sciences and technology; Flows through porous media; Fluid dynamics; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); NATURAL CONVECTION; Nonhomogeneous flows; Physics; POROUS MATERIALS; PRESSURE GRADIENTS; Turbulent flows, convection, and heat transfer; Porous medium flow; Vertical wall; Digital simulation; Natural convection; Inertia; Velocity distribution; Boundary layers; Discretization method; Heat transfer; Pressure gradients
• ISSN: 1040-7782; 1521-0634
• DOI: 10.1080/104077899274534

The free convective boundary layer flow induced by a uniform temperature semi-infinite vertical surface embedded in a porous medium is considered. Particular attention is paid to how inertial effects (form drag or Forchheimer) combine with a spanwise pressure gradient to affect the otherwise two-dimensional flow. The resulting flow is three-dimensional but self-similar. The boundary layer equations are supplemented by an algebraic equation governing the magnitude of the spanwise velocity field. The modifications required to solve this problem using the Keller box method are described. It is found that inertial effects serve to inhibit the spanwise flow near the heated surface.