The mean temperature field of a buoyancy-induced boundary layer adjacent to a vertical plate immersed in a stratified medium

The mean temperature field of a buoyancy-induced boundary layer adjacent to an isothermal vertical flat plate immersed in a linear ambient thermal stratification is investigated experimentally. Experiments are carried out in an apparatus, consisting of a square perspex aquarium and a heated plate assembly. Mean temperature measurements are conducted using constant current fiber-film temperature sensors. The temperature profiles for unstratified and stratified media are compared with corresponding theoretical similarity solutions and good agreement is obtained. Accordingly, for the case in which the environment is thermally stratified, the mean temperature profiles possess a region of temperature deficit (negative dimensionless temperature) and the thickness of the boundary layer is approximately independent of the streamwise coordinate. Measurements of the local heat transfer are in good agreement with corresponding theoretical predictions. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.