Unsteady natural convection in a triangular enclosure induced by surface cooling

Abstract

This study considers the unsteady natural convection in a triangular domain induced by a constant cooling at the water surface. The study consists of two parts: a scaling analysis and numerical simulations. The scaling analysis for small bottom slopes reveals that three laminar flow regimes, namely conductive, transitional and convective flow regimes are possible depending on the Rayleigh number. Proper scales have been established to quantify the transient flow development in each of these flow regimes. The numerical simulation has verified the scaling predictions.