Numerical Computation on Natural Convection Heat Transfer from an Isothermal Sphere with Semi-Circular Ribs
Abstract For the very first time, the present study attempts to address the heat dissipation from an isothermal ribbed sphere under the action of pure natural convection. Semi-circular ribs of different radius are superimposed azimuthally on the outer surface of a sphere. The addition of ribs on the sphere serves a dual purpose in its practical applications; beautification of electronic devices such as spherical light sources and also increase the heat dissipation from the hot surface, which prevents the electronic component from getting overheated. Finite-volume method (FVM) based axisymmetric numerical simulations are performed in the laminar flow regime for the following ranges of non-dimensional parameters: Rayleigh number (102≤=Ra≤=108), inter rib-spacing to sphere diameter (0.191≤=P/D≤=0.785), and rib-radius to sphere diameter (0.03≤=R/D≤=0.083). The main target of this study is to identify the critical parameters for heat transfer enhancement from the ribbed sphere compared to a conventional plane sphere. The results obtained from the present work show that the average Nusselt number increases with an increase in Ra and P/D, whereas it decreases as R/D increases. Effectiveness of the ribs (εrib) and critical Rayleigh numbers (Racr), corresponding to εrib=1, are also calculated. Ribs are more effective in heat dissipation at low Ra and P/D and high R/D. A correlation for the average Nusselt number is also developed in this work, which would help design a better thermal management system.