Mixed convection in a wall plume.

The mixed convection flow that arises due to a finite heated element located on a vertical adiabatic surface in an external flow, aligned with the surface, is studied analytically. The problem is of particular interest in electronic circuitry cooling and in heat removal in various manufacturing systems. The boundary layer flow is studied to determine the heat transfer from the heated element, the temperature decay downstream and the flow field that results. Numerical results are obtained, employing finite difference methods, for a wide range of the mixed convection parameter. The pure natural convection problem is studied first and the results obtained are compared with earlier studies on wall plumes. The effect of mixed convection on the heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics is studied in detail. The temperature at the heated element surface is studied as a function of the mixed convection parameter. The effect of the inclusion of radiative loss on the temperature and flow fields is also examined. (A)