Numerical Study on Mixed Convection Flow of Heat Source Modules Mounted On a Horizontal Plate

Mixed convection \ud ow of heat source modules mounted on a horizontal plate has been\ud studied numerically. Present analysis is valid when the buoyancy force effects are small\ud compared to forced convection effects. The mixed convection \ud ow problem is formulated\ud by two- dimensional incompressible \ud ow with the buoyancy term represented by Boussi-\ud nesq approximation. The governing equations are transformed in to an orthogonal trans-\ud formed plane and solved in stream function and vorticity formulation using high accuracy\ud finite difference schemes. Results are reported for single and double heat sources mounted\ud on horizontal plate with and without thickness of the heat source module. Detailed re-\ud sults are reported on the thermal field of heat source modules or electronic components\ud mounted on a horizontal plate and its dependence on physical parameters such as the ex-\ud ternal velocity, energy input, thickness and location of heat source modules etc. Results\ud show that the surface temperature is decreases with the increase of free stream velocity.\ud The surface temperature is decreases with the increase of energy input to the heat source\ud due to buoyancy. The location of the heat source shows significant effect on the surface\ud temperature and thermal field near the heat source. The surface temperature increases\ud with the increase of heat source location from the leading edge of the plate due to increase\ud of thermal boundary layer thickness. The distance between the two heat sources shows a\ud significant effect on thermal field near the heat source modules. The surface temperature\ud is decreases with the increase of thickness of the heat source module due to increase of\ud surface area. The maximum surface temperature and average Nusselt number values are\ud reported for various combinations of Reynolds and Richardson numbers. The reported\ud average Nusselt numbers are matching very well with the experimental results available\ud from the literature