Unsteady Three-Dimensional Natural Convection in an Inclined Air Slot With a Hexagonal Honeycomb Core

Unsteady three-dimensional natural convection heat transfer in an inclined air slot with a hexagonal honeycomb enclosure is investigated numerically. The numerical methodology is based on an algebraic coordinate transformation technique that maps the hexagonal cross section onto a rectangle. The transformed governing equations are solved with a control volume discretization scheme using a fully implicit method with time. The computations are performed for inclination angles in the range of 60 to 80 deg for Ra = 10⁴, and in the range of 45 to 80 deg for Ra = 10⁵, for Prandtl number of 0.7, and for a fixed aspect ratio of H/L = 5. A conductive thermal boundary condition for the honeycomb side walls is considered. Both periodic and nonperiodic oscillating solutions are obtained depending on the inclination angle and Rayleigh number. The complex flow patterns are presented in form of particle trajectory maps and are compared with the flow visualization results using microcapsulated liquid crystals.