Natural Convection Heat Transfer Between Bodies and Their Spherical Enclosure

The natural convective heat transfer phenomena which occur between a body and its spherical enclosure have been experimentally investigated. Bodies of several different shapes were employed, so the results should have broad applicability. New temperature field and heat transfer results, in the form of natural convection from cubical inner bodies to a spherical enclosure, have been combined with previously available enclosure data. By considering all of the data combined, trends in the behavior of the convective heat transfer phenomena have been established, thus enabling a much more reliable analysis of enclosed body problems than is now possible. A very general heat transfer correlation has been developed which predicts the natural convection heat transfer from spheres (concentric and eccentric), cylinders, and cubes to a spherical enclosure with an average deviation of less than 12 percent. Although these results are strictly valid only for a spherical outer body, they should give a preliminary indication of expected behavior for other shapes.