Conjugate natural convection in enclosures with external and internal heat sources

Several special issues should be paid attentions on conjugate heat transfer in enclosures with external and inner heat sources, including velocity scale, diffusion coefficient on fluid-solid interface, temperature scale for independent multiple heat sources, coupling of velocity and pressure for solid body immersed in fluid. That boosts the present study to analyze and develop convenient practices of solving the conjugate heat transfer firstly, and then applies it to examine the conjugate natural convection and conduction in enclosures with external and inner heat sources. Results are produced in terms of the isotherms, streamlines and Nusselt numbers with wide ranges of external and internal Rayleigh numbers under different thermal boundary conditions. The analysis mainly reveals that the practices of solving the conjugate heat transfer perform well, and the sole temperature scale is flexible than combined temperature scale for arbitrary strengths of external and internal heat sources. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.