The main objective of this article is to study the effect of 2D coupled mode free
convection with surface radiation on the fluid flow behavior in an air filled partitioned
and shallow cavity subjected to isothermal or insulated boundary conditions. The
dimensionless governing equations under Boussinesq approximation are coupled with a
radiative model through the boundaries conditions and solved by the finite volume method.
The numerical results are discussed in terms of streamlines, isotherms, convective and
radiative Nusselt numbers along the cover plate for various aspect ratios (a, b and c), emissivities and
Rayleigh number. These results highlighted the condition of the enclosure performance and
revealed among other that isothermal boundaries induce better convective heat exchange
compared to adiabatic cases. Also, it is noticed that varying aspect ratio
(a) causes
strong influence on both Nusselt numbers compared to the aspect ratios (b) and (c). The increase of
(ϵo) raises
Nuconv
and decreases Nurad
slightly. Whereas, an increase of (ϵC) leads to minor
changes in Nurad
when (b) or
(c) vary,
this effect becomes appreciable with increasing (a).