ISSN Online: 2377-424X
ISBN Print: 1-56032-797-9
International Heat Transfer Conference 11
MULTIPLICITY AND STABILITY OF STEADY CONVECTIVE FLOWS IN LATERALLY HEATED CAVITIES
Abstract
Stability and onset of the oscillatory instability of steady convective flows of low Prandtl number fluids (Pr = 0 and 0.015) in laterally heated rectangular cavities with four rigid boundaries are studied. Spectral Galerkin and finite volume methods are applied. The aspect ratio A (length/height) of the cavity is varied from 1 to 10. Calculations with the global spectral method show that at certain values of the governing parameters there may exist simultaneously several stable steady states of the flow. Different branches of steady flows were found and stability of each of them was studied. Results of the spectral method (on multiplicity of steady states and their stability) are verified by time-marching integration of the full unsteady problem using the finite volume method.