C.S. Nor Azwadi¹, N.I.N. Izual²

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.84, No.6, pp. 559-574, 2012, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2012.084.559

Abstract Natural convection in a differentially heated enclosure plays vital role in engineering applications such as nuclear reactor, electronic cooling technologies, roof ventilation, etc. The developed thermal flow patterns induced by the density difference are expected to be critically dependence on the inclination angles of the cavity. Hence, thermal and fluid flow pattern inside a differentially heated side enclosure walls with various inclination angles have been investigated numerically using the mesoscale lattice Boltzmann scheme. Three different dimensionless Rayleigh numbers were used, and a dimensionless Prandtl number of 0.71 was set to simulate the circulation of air in the system. It was… More >

D. Ngo-Cong^1,2, N. Mai-Duy¹, W. Karunasena², T. Tran-Cong^1,3

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.83, No.3, pp. 275-310, 2012, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2012.083.275

Abstract In this paper, natural convection flows in concentric and eccentric annuli are studied using a new numerical method, namely local moving least square - one dimensional integrated radial basis function networks (LMLS-1D-IRBFN). The partition of unity method is used to incorporate the moving least square (MLS) and one dimensional-integrated radial basis function (1D-IRBFN) techniques in an approach that leads to sparse system matrices and offers a high level of accuracy as in the case of 1D-IRBFN method. The present method possesses a Kronecker-Delta function property which helps impose the essential boundary condition in an exact manner. The method is first… More >

R. Djebali¹, M. El Ganaoui²

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.71, No.3, pp. 179-202, 2011, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2011.071.179

Abstract The Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) became, today, a powerful tool for simulating fluid flows. Its improvements for different applications and configurations offers more flexibility and results in several schemes such as in presence of external/internal forcing term. However, we look for the suitable model that gives correct informations, matches the hydrodynamic equations and preserves some features like coding easily, preserving computational cost, stability and accuracy. In the present work, high order incompressible models and equilibrium distribution functions for the advection-diffusion equations are analyzed. Boundary conditions, acceleration, stability and preconditioning with initial fields are underlined which permit to rigorously selecting two… More >

Han-Taw Chen¹, Li-Shie Liu¹, Shin-Ku Lee¹

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.65, No.2, pp. 155-178, 2010, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2010.065.155

Abstract The finite difference method in conjunction with the least-squares scheme and experimental measured temperatures is proposed to solve a two-dimensional steady-state inverse heat conduction problem in order to predict the natural-convection heat transfer coefficient under the isothermal situation h^−iso from a three fin array mounted on a horizontal plate and fin efficiency η_f for various values of the fin spacing and fin height. The measured fin temperatures and ambient temperature are obtained from the present experimental apparatus conducted in a small wind tunnel. The heat transfer coefficient on a fin is non-uniform for the present problem, and its functional… More >

Hao-Chueh Mai¹, Kuen-Hau Lin¹, Cheng-Hsiu Yang¹, Chao-An Lin^1,2

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.61, No.1, pp. 45-62, 2010, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2010.061.045

Abstract A thermal BGK lattice Boltzmann model for flows with viscous heat dissipation is proposed. In this model, the temperature is solved by a separate thermal distribution function, where the equilibrium distribution function is similar to its hydrodynamic counterpart, except that the leading quantity is temperature. The viscous dissipation rate is obtained by computing the second-order moments of non-equilibrium distribution function, which avoids the discretization of the complex gradient term, and can be easily implemented. The proposed thermal lattice Boltzmann model is scrutinized by computing two-dimensional thermal Poiseuille flow, thermal Couette flow, natural convection in a square cavity, and three-dimensional thermal… More >

Gerardo Anguiano-Orozco^1,2, Rubén Avila³

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.49, No.3, pp. 217-254, 2009, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2009.049.217

Abstract A numerical investigation of the transient, three dimensional, laminar natural convection of a fluid confined in a spherical container is carried out. Initially the fluid is quiescent with a uniform temperature T_i equal to the temperature of the wall of the container. At time t=0, the temperature of the wall is suddenly lowered to a uniform temperature T_w=0. The natural convection, that conducts to a vortex ring formation within the sphere, is driven by a terrestrial gravity force (laboratory gravity) and by the step change in the temperature of the wall. A scaling analysis of a simplified transient, two dimensional… More >

Alfredo Nicolás¹, Blanca Bermúdez², Elsa Báez³

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.48, No.1, pp. 83-106, 2009, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2009.048.083

Abstract Numerical results of natural convection flows in two-dimensional cavities, filled with air, are presented to study the effects on the characteristics of the flows as some parameters vary: the Rayleigh number Ra and the aspect ratio A of the cavity. This kind of thermal flows may be modeled by the unsteady Boussinesq approximation in stream function-vorticity variables. The results are obtained with a simple numerical scheme, previously reported for isothermal/mixed convection flows, based mainly on a fixed point iterative process applied to the non-linear elliptic system that results after time discretization. The evolution of the flows, mainly flows converging to… More >

G. Kosec¹, B. Šarler²

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.47, No.2, pp. 191-216, 2009, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2009.047.191

Abstract This paper explores an application of a novel mesh-free Local Radial Basis Function Collocation Method (LRBFCM) [Sarler and Vertnik (2006)] in solution of coupled heat transfer and fluid flow problems with solid-liquid phase change. The melting/freezing of a pure substance is solved in primitive variables on a fixed grid with convection suppression, proportional to the amount of the solid fraction. The involved temperature, velocity and pressure fields are represented on overlapping sub-domains through collocation by using multiquadrics Radial Basis Functions (RBF). The involved first and second derivatives of the fields are calculated from the respective derivatives of the RBF's. The… More >

D. Ho-Minh¹, N. Mai-Duy¹, T. Tran-Cong¹

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.44, No.3, pp. 219-248, 2009, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2009.044.219

Abstract This paper reports a new discretisation technique for the streamfunc -tion-vorticity-temperature (ψ−ω−T) formulation governing natural convection defined in 2D enclosured domains. The proposed technique combines strengths of three schemes, i.e. smooth discretisations (Galerkin formulation), powerful high-order approximations (one-dimensional integrated radial-basis-function networks) and pressure-free low-order system (ψ−ω−T formulation). In addition, a new effective way of deriving computational boundary conditions for the vorticity is proposed. Two benchmark test problems, namely free convection in a square slot and a concentric annulus, are considered, where a convergent solution for the former is achieved up to the Rayleigh number of 10⁸. More >

R. Avila¹, F.J. Solorio¹

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.44, No.2, pp. 177-202, 2009, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2009.044.177

Abstract Heat transfer processes involving phase change either, solidification or melting, appear frequently in nature and in industrial applications. In this paper the convective patterns that arise from a 2D shear driven annular flow (without and with melting), are presented. The convective annular flow with radial gravity can be considered as a simplified model of the atmospheric flow in the terrestrial equatorial plane (bounded by the warm surface of the Earth and the cold tropopause). The governing equations have been numerically solved by the Spectral Element Method. The numerical results reported in this paper, for the cases without melting (at two… More >