Natural Convection From a Vertical Surface to a Thermally Stratified Fluid

Results are presented of a study of natural convection from an isothermal finite plate immersed in a stable thermally stratified fluid. An analytical solution to the problem is obtained by using the local nonsimilarity method. Theoretical local and overall heat transfer coefficients are given for Pr = 0.7 and 6.0. Velocity and temperature profiles are given for Pr = 6.0. The actual experimental configuration was a vertical copper cylinder enclosed in a cube with rigid walls. Heat transfer data are correlated with the measured ambient thermal gradient. Visual studies of the flow field are also discussed. Excellent agreement is achieved between analysis and experiment.