The Effects of Property Variations on Natural Convection in a Square Enclosure

Natural convection in a square enclosure with heated vertical walls and temperature-dependent conductivity and viscosity was simulated for Prandtl numbers ranging from 0.01 to 1.0 and Ra ≤ 106. Although the variable properties produced observable changes in the the temperatures and velocities, the overall heat transfer, as represented by the Nusselt number, was found to be unaffected and was accurately correlated in terms of the Rayleigh and Prandtl numbers using Nu=0.185Ra00.278Pr00.089 with properties evaluated at the average temperature. This correlation applies to both isothermal and constant heat flux hot walls.