Natural convection in square cavity with heat generating baffles

Abstract A numerical study of natural convection in an air filled differentially heated square cavity containing two vertical thin heat generating baffles is presented. The baffles are kept centrally separated by a distance d in the cavity and assumed to generate heat uniformly. A variety of thermal boundary conditions are imposed on the vertical walls while the horizontal walls are considered to be insulated. The Grashof number and Prandtl number are fixed at 10 7 and 0.71, respectively. A steady state results for the vorticity–stream function formulation are presented in the form of streamline and isotherm plots and average Nusselt numbers. The effects of various thermal boundary conditions on the vertical walls and different position of the baffles on heat transfer and fluid flow are investigated.