Natural convection from a horizontal cylinder in a rectangular cavity

Abstract A numerical and experimental analysis is performed for natural convection heat transfer from a horizontal cylinder enclosed in a rectangular cavity. The temperature distribution in the air and the heat transfer coefficients are measured by a holographic interferometer and compared with numerical predictions obtained by a finite-element procedure based on the streamfunction-vorticity formulation of the momentum equations. The influence of the Rayleigh number and the geometry of the cavity on the heat transfer are investigated.