Prediction of Unsteady Natural Convection within a Square Cavity Containing an Obstacle at High Rayleigh Number Value

Abstract

The present work deals with the prediction of a natural convection flow in a square cavity, partially heated by an obstacle placed at the bottom wall. The two transverse walls and the top wall of the cavity are supposed to be cold, the remaining walls are kept insulated. The main parameter of numerical investigations is the Rayleigh number (engine convection) varying from 103 to 105. When Ra is fixed at 107, the flow and thermal fields bifurcate and undergoes an unsteady behavior at critical positions. Flow patterns corresponding to the unsteady state are presented and analyzed in the current study. The simulations were conducted using a numerical approach based on the finite volume method and the projection method, which are implemented in a computer code in order to solve the Navier-Stokes equations.