Inf. J. Heat Maw Transfer. Vol. 41, No. 2, pp.

293-302, 1998
0 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
Pergamon Printed in Great Britain
0017-9310/98 %19.00+0.00

PI1 : s0017-9310(97)00141-5

Mixed convection of air between two horizontal

concentric cylinders with a cooled rotating
outer cylinder
JOO-SIK YOO
Department of Mechanical Engineering Education, Andong National University, 388 Songchun-
dong, Andong, Kyungpuk, 760-749, Korea

(Received 4 February 1997 and infinalform 10 May 1997)

Abstract-Mixed convection of air with Pr = 0.7 between two horizontal concentric cylinders which are
held at different uniform temperatures is numerically investigated. The forced flow is induced by the cold
outer cylinder which is rotating slowly with constant angular velocity with its axis at the center of annulus.
Investigations are made for various combinations of Ra, Re and CJ(= diameter of inner cylinder/gap width)
in the range of Ra < 5 x 104,Re < 1500, and 0.5 < cr < 5. The flow patterns can be categorized into three
basic types according to the number of eddies : two-eddy, one-eddy, and no-eddy flows. A map of the three
flow regimes is constructed on the Ra-Re plane. Characteristics of flow patterns and heat transfer are
elucidated. 0 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.

INTRODUCTION convection problem in a horizontal annulus is inves-

tigated. The inner cylinder is hotter than the outer
The fluid flow and the heat transfer in an annulus one, and the forced flow is induced by the outer cyl-
between two horizontal concentric cylinders have inder which is rotating slowly with constant angular
attracted considerable attention because of the theor- velocity with its axis at the center of annulus. Up to
etical interest and its wide engineering applications date, most works for mixed-convection problems in
such as thermal energy storage systems, cooling of rotating systems have been performed for the flows
electronic components, and transmission cables. in vertical cylindrical annuli [18-201. Relatively few
Comprehensive reviews on the study of natural con- studies, however, have been made for the flows in
vection phenomena were presented by Kuehn and horizontal annuli. A few authors [21-231 have studied
Goldstein [ 11,and Gebhart et al. [2]. The flow features mixed-convective flows within a horizontal annulus
of natural convection of a fluid with high Prandtl with a heated rotating inner cylinder. When the inner
number (of order 1 or larger) have been disclosed cylinder or both of the inner and outer cylinders are
experimentally and numerically. Powe et al. [3,4] and rotating, the centrifugal effects created by the rotating
Rao et al. [5] investigated flow patterns. They found cylinder can lead to three-dimensional flows with
that the free convective flow of a high Prandtl number Taylor vortices [24]. Fusegi et al. [21] and Lee [22,
fluid can be categorized into four basic types : a steady 231 purposely limited the calculations to a range of
two-dimensional flow with two crescent-shaped parameters that would exclude this possibility. They
eddies, a two-dimensional oscillatory flow, a three- considered a few cases of parameters ; and the tran-
dimensional spiral flow, and a two-dimensional mul- sition phenomena of flow patterns and the effect of
ticellular flow. Recently, Yoo [6] investigated the exis- aspect ratio were not investigated. On the contrary,
tence of dual steady states for a fluid of Prandtl num- the Couette flow between two horizontal concentric
ber 0.7 (air). cylinders, with the stationary inner cylinder and the
Thermal convection of fluids with low Prandtl num- outer cylinder rotating about its axis at constant angu-
ber such as liquid metals, exhibits multicellular flow lar velocity (a) is proved to be stable, according to
patterns for high Rayleigh numbers [7-l 11,In particu- linear stability theory, for all values of R [24]. When
lar, Fant et al. [lo] and Yoo et al. [l l] observed oscil- the inner cylinder or both of the inner and outer cyl-
latory like-rotatin,g multicellular flow patterns that inders are rotating, however, the linear stability theory
originated from the hydrodynamic type of instability. tells that the flow is not always stable for all values of
Some other authors have considered a non-uni- R. It thus appears that a mixed-convection system
formly heated annular fluid layer [12], the condition with the stationary inner cylinder and the outer cyl-
of a constant heat flux at the inner cylinder [ 131, a inder rotating is an appropriate configuration to inves-
conjugate problem [14], cold water [15], and transient tigate the effect of forced flow on the two-dimensional
convection [ 16, 171. natural convection in a horizontal annulus. There is,
In this numerical study, a two-dimensional mixed- of course, a possibility of three-dimensional flows for

293
294 J.-S. YOO

NOMENCLATURE

Q diameter of inner cylinder TQ normalized torque loaded at the

e,, eg unit vectors in the radial and angular outer cylinder with respect to the torque
directions, respectively obtained with the Couette velocity
g acceleration of gravity distribution
J Jacobian t dimensionless time
L gap width of the annulus, R, - Ri r,, T, temperatures at the inner and outer
N%VId Nusselt number of pure conduction cylinders, respectively
state u dimensionless velocity vector
Nu,, Nu, local Nusselt numbers at the inner u, 0 dimensionless velocity components
and outer cylinders, respectively in the radial and angular directions,
Nui, Nu, mean Nusselt numbers at the inner respectively.
and outer cylinders, respectively
Nu overall Nusselt number, (G+ Nu,)/2 Greek symbols
Pr Prandtl number, v/X o! coefficient of thermal expansion
P dimensionless pressure rl stretched coordinate in the radial
Q net circulation of fluid in the direction
direction of cylinder’s rotation, e dimensionless temperature
IY,-Y’,l X thermal diffusivity
Ri, R, radii of the inner and outer cylinders, V kinematic viscosity
respectively PO mean density
Ra Rayleigh number based on the gap 0 ratio of the inner cylinder diameter
width, ccg(Ti - T,,)L3/Xv to gap width, Di/L
Re Reynolds number, R,RL/v 4 angular coordinate
Re, critical Reynolds number at which Y dimensionless streamfunction
transition of flow pattern occurs ‘I’,, Y1 values of the streamfunction at the
r dimensionless radial coordinate inner and outer cylinders, respectively
ri, r, dimensionless radii of the inner and n angular velocity of the outer cylinder
outer cylinders, respectively 0 dimensionless vorticity.

nonlinear disturbances at sulliciently high Ra and Re. flow, the rotation of cylinder has little effect on the
In the mixed-convection problem, the forced flow can overall heat transfer at the walls, although the dis-
aid or oppose the buoyancy-induced flow. In the pre- tribution of local Nusselt number is significantly alt-
sent configuration, both aiding and opposing effects ered from that of pure natural convection. As Re
exist. approaches the transitional value between two- and
The objective of the present study is to investigate one-eddy flows, however, the overall heat transfer is
the effect of forced flow induced by the rotating outer drastically reduced. The transitional Reynolds num-
cylinder on the characteristics of heat transfer and ber between two- and one-eddy flows for small Ray-
fluid flow of the two-dimensional natural convection leigh number is not greatly affected by the geometrical
within a horizontal annulus. Investigations are made parameter of concentric annulus (0.5 < a < 5).
for various combinations of Ra, Re and a in the range
of Ra < 5 x 104, Re < 1500 and 0.5 < a < 5 with
ANALYSIS
Pr = 0.7. Unlike the case of rotating inner cylinder
[21-231, the flow patterns can be categorized into three The geometry of the problem and the coordinate
types according to the number of eddies : two-, one- system are shown in Fig. 1. The fluid is contained
and no-eddy flows. It would be of interest to inves- between two infinite horizontal concentric circular cyl-
tigate the transition phenomena of flow patterns and inders, which are held at different uniform tem-
the characteristics of heat transfer. This study has peratures of Ti and To (Ti > To). The inner cylinder is
computed numerous cases of the parameters, and a fixed, but the outer cylinder is rotating slowly in the
map of steady-state flow regimes on the Ra-Re plane counter-clockwise direction with constant angular vel-
has been constructed. Characteristics of flow patterns ocity (a). Density change in the fluid is neglected
and heat transfer at the walls are elucidated. It is everywhere except in the buoyancy, and all the other
observed that the variation of overall heat transfer physical properties of the fluid are assumed constant
with respect to the angular velocity of cylinder is (Boussinesq approximation). Viscous dissipation in
closely related to the flow patterns. For the relatively the energy equation is also neglected. We consider
small Reynolds number in the regime of two-eddy a two-dimensional problem, and use the cylindrical
 Mixed convection of air between two horizontal concentric cylinders 295

where the vorticity w, streamfunction Y, Jacobian

J(f, g), and Laplacian Vz are
ay
w= j&W- $-J(U),
U=r3
ay 1 afag ai
u= --g> JcLs)=,
( s-J-q--
af
>

a*
V*=& rf-r +- (9)
( ) r* a4*'

The boundary conditions on the two walls are

ay
Y=Y,, ar=O, a=-$, e=i
Fig. I. Problem configuration.
at r = ri

coordinates (r, 411, the angular coordinate C$ being

measured counter-clockwise from the upward vertical
8= 0 at r = ro. (11)
through the center of the cylinders (Fig. 1). The equa-
tions governing conservation of mass, momentum and In the above boundary conditions (10) and (1 l),
energy are put into non-dimensional form by taking values of the streamfunctions, Y, and Y’, are not
the characteristic length, time, velocity, pressure, and given, but are to be determined. In the present prob-
temperature as L, L/V, V = R,Q poV2, and (T- T,), lem, we can let Y’, = 0 without loss of generality, and
respectively. We let Pr = v/x, Re = R,BLIv, and Y2 is determined to satisfy the condition of the single
Ra = ug(T- T&‘/xv denote the Prandtl, Reynolds value of pressure on the wall [25]. On the surface of
and Rayleigh numbers, respectively. The dimen- the wall where u = 0 and u = constant, the following
sionless governing equations are equation is derived from the azimuthal component of
momentum equation.
v-u=0 (1)
1 ap
__=--_
1 ao Ra
-@sin+ (12)
g +(UT)” = -vp+ $72” raq5 Re ar PrRe*

Integration along the surface of wall yields

-t- +$ &xN$)e, - sin(4)ed (2)

$(“.v)e= &?v2e
(13)
with the boundary conditions because 0 = constant on the wall.
The dimensionless heat transfer rate of pure con-
u = u ==0, e= 1 at r = ri (4)
duction in the absence of fluid motion is :
u=o, t’=l, e= 0 at r = ro. (9 1
N~cond = ~ (14)
On the introduction of the streamfunction Y, con- ln(r,/rJ
tinuity equation (1) is satisfied identically. And the
The local Nusselt number is defined as the actual heat
dimensionless equations governing the two-dimen-
flux divided by NuCond.
sional convection .in terms of the vorticity w and stre-
amfunction Y are written as follows :
Nu,($) = - rg Nucond at r = ri (15)
aa ( )i
- =
at
J(Y, co)+ $v’w

1 (6)
Nucond at r = r. (16)
- j$& sin(4) $ +cos(f$) $$ - -
and the mean Nusselt numbers, Nui and Nu,, are given
w = -VY (7) by
2%

(8)
Nui=; NUi (4) d4 (17)
-‘I .I0
296 J.-S. YOO

(18) V(r) = Arf $ (20)

where
In steady states, Nu, and Nu, are presumably of the
same value.
Equations (6)-(13) are numerically solved by the
A=r, ) B=_J!L.
rz - r;? ri - rf
similar finite difference scheme used in Yoo and Kim
[26] for spatially periodic flow. Equations (6) and (8) This gives
are cast into finite difference form using the leap-frog
method [27] of Dufort-Frankel for the diffusion and -Y2 = lo V(r) dr = A(ri -rf)/2+Bln(r,/rJ.
time derivative terms, and central differencing for the
Jacobian. The Poisson equation for the steamfunction
is discretized by use of five-point formula. Because the
(21)
computational domain is rectangular, the discretized Some values of the numerically calculated ‘P2 for
Poisson equation is solved by the direct method of cr = 2 are listed in Table 1. It shows that as the number
Buzbee et al. [28] which uses cyclic even-odd of grid points is increased, the error approaches zero.
reduction method. The algorithm of Buzbee et al. [28] We can see that the (r x 4) grid of (35 x 32) yields
is known to be extremely fast and accurate. In the sufficiently accurate result. This study, however, used
azimuthal direction, a uniform grid is employed, and 65-grid points in the radial direction, for most cases, to
in the radial direction, the following coordinate stret- resolve the thin boundary layer near the outer cylinder
ching is utilized. sufficiently. The results of the pure natural convection
problem were compared with those obtained by
r = r_+ I tanh{CC%
- 1))
1
1 + Kuehn and Goldstein [l]. They showed good agree-
’ 2 tanh(C) ment with each other.
Firstly, the flow patterns for small Rayleigh number
withC = 1.5, 0 < rl < 1. (19) are presented. The flow field induced by pure buoy-
ancy force consists of two kidney-shaped eddies which
The solution was considered to have converged to are symmetric with respect to the vertical axis 4 = 0.
the steady state, when the absolute value of the When the outer cylinder is rotating, the symmetry is
maximum relative difference between two consecutive broken. The variation of flow patterns with respect to
time steps was less than a prescribed value E : Reynolds number is shown in Fig. 2 for Q = 2 and
Ra = 1000. For small Reynolds number, the two sym-
’-f;j <
I
~~~ f;:
f::’ I E forf= w, y metric eddies created by the pure buoyancy force are
slightly altered by the forced convection [Fig. 2(a)].
There is net circulation of fluid around both of the
and 0 with&< 10-3. inner and outer cylinders. The circulation for small
Rayleigh number (Ra < 1000) is smooth and is similar
For most cases, E was set equal to 10e4. The time step to that observed by Wang and Bau [29] in the natural
At was taken in the range of 10e5 < At < 5 x 10e3. At convection of low Rayleigh number in an eccentric
the initial stage, a small time step At N 10m5was used, annulus. In the region of R < 4 < 2x, the forced flow
and later on At was changed to a larger value near the outer cylinder opposes the buoyancy-induced
At 2: 10p3. According to the values of inverse relative flow. The eddy in that region, however, persists when
gap width (a) and Rayleigh number (Ra), different the forced flow is weak. As Reynolds number
grids were used: the (TX 4) meshes of (65 x 64), increases, the eddy becomes more strongly suppressed
(45 x 64) or (65 x 32). by the forced flow [Fig. 2(b)], and above a certain
critical value it disappears [Fig. 2(c)]. At the higher

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Computations were performed for various com- Table 1. Numerically determined values of YZwhen Ra = 0
binations of Ra, Re and u in the range of Ra < 5 x 104, and u = 2 with 32-grid points to the azimuthal direction
Re < 1500, and 0.5 < a < 5, with Pr = 0.7. The main
investigations were made for an annulus of a = 2. To Number of r-grid Calculated Percent
points -y* error
check the numerical method, the problem of pure
forced convection (Ra = 0) and that of pure natural 15 0.5474 1.766
convection were solved. The two-dimensional forced 25 0.5413 0.632
convection problem yields the circular Couette flow 35 0.5396 0.316
45 0.5389 0.186
with u = 0, v = V(r), and p = P(r), where V(r) is 55 0.5386 0.130
determined from the azimuthal component ofmomen- Exact 0.5379
turn equation. The solution is
 Mixed convection of air between two horizontal concentric cylinders 291

Fig. 2. Streamlines for several Reynolds numbers when (T= 2

and Ru = 1000: (a) Re= 5; (b) Re= 10; (c) Re = 20;
(d) Re = 100. The cross in (b) indicates the center of weak
eddy.

Reynolds number, the remaining eddy in 0 < 4 < K @@

also disappears [Fig. 2(d)]. (c) Re=300
As Ra is increased, the circulation of fluid around
the inner cylinder becomes complex. The flow patterns
at Ra = lo4 with cr = 2 are presented in Fig. 3. For
Ra < 104, the streamline of Y = 0, which separates
the two eddies always encompasses the large eddy,
and with increased speed of rotation the separation
point on the upper portion of inner cylinder moves
in the direction of cylinder’s rotation. When
Ra > 2 x 104, however, the separating streamline does
not always encompass the large eddy, and the sep- Streamlines Isotherms
aration point does not always move in the same direc- Fig. 3. Streamlines and isotherms for several Reynolds num-
tion of cylinder’s rotation with increased speed of berswhencr=2andRa=104:(a)Re=100;(b)Re=200;
(c) Re = 300; (d) Re = 500.
rotation. For example, the flow patterns at
Ra = 5 x lo4 are presented in Fig. 4. When Re = 100,
the point of Y’,,, (indicated by the cross) locates in
the upper portion of annulus [Fig. 4(a)]. As Re is the thermal plumes near the upper portion of inner
increased, it moves in the direction of cylinder’s cylinder for Ra = 5 x lo4 in Fig. 4(b-d) are tilted in
rotation, and the large eddy grows further in size. the opposite direction of cylinder’s rotation. For small
During this course, the separating streamline on the Rayleigh number (Ra < 103, the thermal plume is
top of annulus becomes to be deflected right due to always tilted in the same direction of cylinder’s
the increased drag of large eddy in the right side of rotation (Fig. 3). In general, the forced flow tends to
annulus [Fig. 4(b)]. And finally, the separating stratify the temperature field in the radial direction. It
streamline of Y = 0 encompasses the small eddy, at is to be noted that the isotherms of one-eddy flow
Re = 400 [Fig. 4(c)]. For Re < 600 [Fig. 4(d)], with constitute nearly concentric circles.
increase of Re the separation point on the inner cyl- As shown in Figs 2-4, the flows can be categorized
inder moves in the opposite direction of cylinder’s into three different patterns according to the number
rotation. This is caused by the increased drag of large of eddies : two eddies [Fig. 2(a)], one eddy [Fig. 2(c)],
eddy. As Re is increased further, however, the sep- and no eddy [Fig. 2(d)]. The map of the three flow
aration point moves in the same direction of cylinder’s regimes for rr = 2 is presented in Fig. 5. In the con-
rotation [Fig. 4(e)]. Finally, the small eddy disap- duction-dominated regime of Ra < 1000, the bound-
pears, and the streamline of Y = 0 encompasses the ary lines are approximated as Re = Cl RaC2. The
remaining eddy, at Re = 900 [Fig. 4(f)]. approximate values of C, and C, are (C,, C,) = (0.009,
The isotherms presented in Figs 3 and 4 also show 1.08) and (0.13, 0.95) for the transition between two-
the above characteristics well. It is interesting that and one-eddy flows and that between one- and no-
298 J.-S. YOO

~~
(f)Re=9OO

@@
(s)Re= 1300
Streaklines Isotherms Streamlines -’ Isotherms
Fig. 4. Streamlines and isotherms for several Reynolds numbers when u = 2 and Ra = 5 x 104:
(a) Re = 100 ; (b) Re = 300 ; (c) Re = 400 ; (d) Re = 600 ; (e) Re = 850 ; ( f) Re = 900 ; (g) Re = 1300. The
cross in the plot of streamlines indicates the point of Y’,,,.

eddy flows, respectively. As Ra is increased, the tran- q!~= 42 and 3x/2 are presented in Fig. 6 for Ra = 100,
sitional Reynolds number between two- and one-eddy 1000,2000,5000 and 10000, with Re = 20 and Q = 2.
approaches that between one- and no-eddy. There appears no-eddy at Ra = 100, but one-eddy at
The flow patterns have been investigated carefully Ra = loo0, and two-eddies at Ra = 2000, 5000 and
with the plots of streamlines and angular velocity of 10 000 : for a fixed Reynolds number, there occur tran-
fluid. For a fixed Rayleigh number, a solution for a sitions of flow patterns from no- to one-eddy and from
small Reynolds number was obtained, and for most one- to two-eddies, as Ra increases (Fig. 5). All the
cases, the solution at the higher Reynolds number was fluid move in the direction of cylinder’s rotation for
found by letting the initial conditions be the solution small Rayleigh number. At Ra = 100, the velocity dis-
of lower Re previously obtained. It has also been tried tribution is nearly identical to that of Couette flow. As
to obtain the solutions for lower Re flows from the Ra increases, the velocity profile becomes increasingly
previously obtained higher Re flow solutions. Both skewed by buoyancy force, and the slope of the velocity
methods yielded identical results for the same par- distribution near the walls becomes steep. At a large
ameters. That is, hysteresis phenomena have not been Rayleigh number, the velocity at 4 = 742 adjacent to
observed. the hot inner cylinder becomes negative [Fig. 6(a)-
In the mixed-convective system, the forced flow can Ra = lOOO],and the velocity at q?~= 3x/2 also becomes
aid or oppose the buoyancy-induced flow. In the pre- negative at the higher Rayleigh number pig. 6(b)-
sent configuration, both aiding and opposing effects Ra = 2000,5OOO, 10 0001. The variation of the velocity
exist (Fig. 1). The distributions of angular velocities at profile with respect to Rayleigh number (Fig. 6)
 Mixed convection of air between two horizontal concentric cylinders 299

I
3- 1 I
II
I

2:
No teddy I I I
I I
I
+z2_ I
,a; - ,:I ‘g I
I
2 - 8 =
4 _ I =
&" =
12: I
I
1 Two eddies
I
_ I
I
z
d&-l--T’ Fig. 7. Two-eddy and one-eddy flow patterns at Ra = 5000
2 3 4 5 for wide and narrow annuli: (a.1) CT= 0.5, Re = 100;
(a.2) D = 0.5, Re = 120; (b.1) CI= 5, Re = 100; (b.2) G = 5,
LoMa) Re = 130.
Fig. 5. Classification of flow regimes according to the number
of eddies on the Ra--Re plane when d = 2. The transition of
flow patterns occurs at the Reynolds number betwen the
error brackets. of e = 0.5 (wide gap) and 0 = 5 (narrow gap) are
presented in Fig. 7, which represents two- and one-
eddy flow patterns. For u = 0.5, the convective fluid
has more space to move around and the fluid motion
and heat transfer characteristics tend to be more con-
vective like. For e = 5, the fluid enclosed by the sepa-
rating streamline of Y = 0 has less space to move
about and the fluid motion and heat transfer behavior
tend to be more conduction like.
The dependencies of the critical Reynolds numbers
at which transitions of flow patterns occur on the
64 geometric parameters (a) are presented in Fig. 8 for
Ra = 200, 1000 and 5000. Figure 8(a) represents the
curves of the critical Reynolds number (Re,) between
two- and one-eddy flows, and Fig. 8(b) represents
those between one- and no-eddy flows. As e is
increased, Re, between two- and one-eddy flows for
Ra = 200 is slightly increased, but those have
maximum value around 1 < u < 2 for Ra = 1000 and
5000 [Fig. 8(a)]. However, Re, between one- and no-
eddy flows is increased for all Rayleigh numbers [Fig.
8(b)]. Overall, the transitional Reynolds numbers
(b) between two- and one-eddy flows for small Rayleigh
number are not greatly affected by the geometrical
T r r, parameter of the concentric annulus.
Fig. 6. Distribution of angular velocities at 4 = x/2 (a) and The net circulation of fluid in the direction of cyl-
4 = 3x//2 (b) as a function of Rayleigh number when D = 2 inder’s rotation (Q = ]Y’,- Y, I), and the torque (TQ)
and Re = 20.
acting on the outer cylinder are shown in Fig 9. The
dimensionless torque is given by

resembles that observed by Aung and Worku [30,31]

Torque = 2n(r+)d& r=r- ir f (22)
in the mixed convection in a vertical channel, in which
s0 0
flow reversal similar to that in Fig. 6(a) was found.
Up to this point, the case of CT= 2 has been and TQ is defined as the actual torque on the outer
presented. And similar characteristics of flow patterns cylinder divided by the torque obtained with the
in the number of eddies have been observed for the Couette velocity distribution [equation (20)]. When
other geometric configurations of annuli. The cases the Rayleigh number is small, the net circulation and
300 J.-S. YOO

0.6
9

Ra=5000
0.4 7

Q
sTQ
@---T-- 0.2
Ra= 1000 3

(4 0 1
2 3 4

Fig. 9. Net circulation of fluid in the direction of cylinder’s

Ob rotation (Q = [‘I”,-Y’,I) and the torque (TQ) acting on the
outer cylinder as functions of Rayleigh number when 0 = 2
CJ Q/L) and Re = 20.

“I I

Ra=5000
2

NUi

? - 1

< 2- //y---a
G Ra= 1000

free convection I
Q,_^ 6
04

1 I
’ Ra=200
Nu, 2
I I I I I 1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
0 (Dr/L 1 (b)

Fig. 8. Critical Reynolds numbers (Re,) at which transitions

of flow patterns occur as functions of c for several Rayleigh
numbers : (a) between two eddy and one eddy ; (b) between
one eddy and no eddy. Fig. 10. Variation of local Nusselt number distributions at
the inner (a) and outer (b) cylinders with respect to Reynolds
number when u = 2 and Ra = 5000.

the torque are close to those of the Couette flow,

Q = 0.5379, TQ = 1. As Rayleigh number becomes 10). When Ra = 5 x lo4 (Fig. 1 l), however, the points
large, the net circulation decreases and approaches at the inner cylinder do not always move in the same
zero, but the torque increases due to the strong resist- direction: the curves of Re = 300, 400, 600 for
ing buoyancy force near the outer cylinder. That is, maximum Nu, and those ofRe = 100, 200, 300,400,
the free-convective motion of fluid tends to block the 600 for minimum Nui show that the points move in
circulation of fluid. This behavior can be also seen the opposite direction of cylinder’s rotation. These
from the velocity distributions in Fig. 6. phenomena correspond to the variation of flow pat-
To see the effects of cylinder’s rotation on the local terns in Fig. 4. Apparently, the distributions of local
heat fluxes, the distributions of local Nusselt numbers Nusselt numbers for all Reynolds numbers are differ-
at the inner (Nui) and other (Nu,) cylinders for ent from those of free convection. The cases of
Ra = 5000 and Ra = 5 x lo4 are shown in Figs 10 and Re = 20, 50 in Fig. 10 and Re = 100 in Fig. 11,
11, with Q = 2. As the speed of rotation is increased, however, show that the integrated values of NW (or
the points of maximum and minimum local heat fluxes Nu,) are nearly identical to the free-convection values.
at both of the inner and outer cylinders move in the Finally, the overall Nusselt numbers are shown in
direction of cylinder’s rotation for Ra = 5000 (Fig. Fig. 12 as functions of Reynolds number for
 Mixed convection of air between two horizontal concentric cylinders 301

0 90 180 270 380

+‘O(dee)

(b)

0 90 1.50 270 360

Fig. 11. Variation of local Nusselt number distributions at

the inner (a) and outer (b) cylinders with respect to Reynolds
number when 0 = 2 and Ra = 5 x 104.

Nu
Ra = 1000, 2000, 3000, 5000, 7000, 104, 2 x lo4 and
5 x IO4 with (T= 2. The forced flow tends to stratify
the temperature field in the radial direction. There is
1
a kind of competition between the buoyancy-induced
flow and the forced flow. For small Reynolds number,
the Nusselt number is nearly identical to that of free
convection, but above a certain Reynolds number it
decreases rapidly and approaches unity. The range of
the Reynolds number where there is no great variation
in heat transfer becomes wide, as Rayleigh number mdw
Fig. 12. Overall Nusselt numbers as functions of Reynolds
increases. Comparing the map of flow regime (Fig. 5)
number for several Rayfeigh numbers when D = 2:
with the curves of overall Nusselt numbers (Fig. 12), Ra = 1000,2000,3000, 5000,7000, 104, 2 x lo4 and 5 x 104.
it can be seen that the region of Re in which there is The values on the vertical dashed line represent the Nusseh
little variation in heat transfer corresponds to the flow numbers of pure free convection. The arrows on the curves
regime of strong ltwo eddies. As Re approaches the of Nusselt number indicate the transition Reynolds numbers
between two-eddy and one-eddy flow patterns.
transitional Reynolds number between two-eddy and
one-eddy patterns, however, the overall heat transfer
is rapidly decreased. Figures 3 and 4 show that the three types according to the number of eddies : two-,
isotherms of one..eddy flow constitute nearly con- one- and no-eddy flows. A map of the three flow
centric circles. This implies that the overall Nusselt regimes was constructed on the Ra-Re plane. The
number at the walls for one-eddy flow is near the value transitional Reynolds number between two- and one-
of conduction stat!:. eddy flows for small Rayleigh number is not greatly
affected by the geometrical parameter of the con-
centric annulus (0.5 < 0 < 5). Net circulation of fluid
in the direction of cylinder’s rotation is decreased as
the Rayleigh number is increased. As the speed of the
Mixed convection in a horizontal concentric annu- cylinder’s rotation is increased, the points of
lus was numerically investigated for air with Pr = 0.7. maximum and minimum local heat fluxes at both of
The inner cylindes is hotter than the outer cylinder. the inner and outer cylinders move in the same direc-
The forced flow is induced by the cold outer cylinder tion of cylinder’s rotation for small Rayleigh number,
which is rotating slowly with constant angular velocity but for high Rayleigh number the points at the inner
with its axis at the center of the annulus. Investigations cylinder do not always move in the same direction.
were made for various combinations of Ra, Re, and r~ Overall heat transfer at the wall is rapidly decreased,
in the range of Ra < 5 x 104, Re < 1500, and as Re approaches the transitional Reynolds number
0.5 < Q ,< 5. The flow patterns can be categorized into between two- and one-eddy flows.
302 J.-S. YOO

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