Numerical computation of fluid convection with air enclosed between the annuli of eccentric heated horizontal rotating cylinders

Abstract

In this paper, numerical experiments are performed to study the effects of the convective fluid motion of air enclosed between the annuli of eccentric horizontal cylinders. The inner cylinder is assumed heated and rotating. The rotational Reynolds number (Re) considered is in the range 0-1120; the Rayleigh number (Ra) considered is in the range 103-106. When the inner cylinder is made to rotate, numerical experiments show that the multicellular flow patterns observed in stationary cylindrical annuli subside in a manner dependent on the eccentricity and the rotational Re of the inner cylinder. At higher rotational Re, the flow tends toward a uniform flow. With a fixed Ra, when the inner cylinder is made to rotate, the mean Nusselt number decreases throughout the flow. © 1992.