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Numerical solution of natural convection flow past a non-isothermal vertical flat plate

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Abstract

The problem of natural convection over a semi-infinite flat plate with non-uniform wall temperature is studied by using a numerical method. The local rates of heat transfer as a function of the distance along the plate are tabulated for a range of Prandtl numbers (0.01 to 100) and for a few cases of wall temperature distributions. Such tabulations serve as a reference against which other approximate solutions can be compared in the future.

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Abbreviations

a i, bi, ci :

constants and coefficients in Eq. (I-5) in Appendix

A :

constant

f :

dimensionless dependent variable, defined in (5)

F :

representation of the differential equations in Appendix

g :

dimensionless dependent variable, defined in (5)

Gr :

Grashof number, (T rT )L 3/v 2

h :

heat transfer coefficient

h j :

step size

k :

heat conductivity

K :

ratio of successive step sizes

L :

length of the plate

m :

constant

M(ξ):

dimensionless surface mass transfer parameter

n :

constant

Nu :

Nusselt number, hx/k

P(ξ):

wall temperature function, defined in Eq. (9)

Pr :

Prandtl number

r :

a function of x in Eq. (16)

R :

a function of x in Appendix

Re :

Reynold number

S :

a function of x in Appendix

S w :

dimensionless wall temperature

t :

g′ in Appendix

T :

temperature

u :

velocity component in x-direction and f′ in Appendix

v :

velocity component in y-direction and f″ in Appendix

x :

coordinate along the plate

y :

coordinate perpendicular to the plate

θ :

(TT )/(T wT )

ξ :

dimensionless coordinate along the plate

η :

similar variable, defined in (5)

ψ :

stream function

α :

constant and a function of ξ in Appendix

β :

bulk modulus and a function of P(ξ) in Appendix

φ :

a function of x

ε :

(T w1T )/(T w2T )

o:

reference condition

r:

reference condition

w:

wall condition

x:

local condition

∝:

mainstream condition

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Na, T.Y. Numerical solution of natural convection flow past a non-isothermal vertical flat plate. Appl. Sci. Res. 33, 519–543 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00411829

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