General introduction

The term “combined forced and free convection” is used to describe the process of heat transfer in fluids where the flow field is modified significantly by the action of non-uniformity of gravitational body force as a consequence of the temperature dependence of fluid density. The influence of free convection is usually thought of in terms of the concept of fluid buoyancy. Another term commonly used to describe heat transfer under such conditions is “mixed convection”.

The effectiveness of heat transfer by forced convection as characterised by the Nusselt number Nu_F depends on Reynolds number and Prandtl number. In the case of free convection the corresponding parameter Nu_N depends on Grashof number and Prandtl number. Thus, for combined free and forced it is not surprising that Nusselt number depends on Reynolds number, Grashof number and Prandtl number.

In the early studies of convective heat transfer the forced and free convection modes were considered independently with only passing reference being made to any possible interaction between them. When combined free and forced convection did eventually begin to be investigated, attention was at first restricted to laminar and transitional flows. Later, it became clear that measurable influences of free convection could also be present in turbulent flows and that in some circumstances they were a dominant factor in determining the effectiveness of heat transfer under such conditions.

In the following review of combined free and forced convection in passages, attention is focussed on heat transfer in vertical and horizontal pipes. Clearly, the orientation of the pipe is an important parameter under conditions of buoyancy-influenced convective heat transfer. In the vertical case, the flow can be either aided by buoyancy (upward flow in a pipe with heating/ downward flow with cooling) or opposed by buoyancy (downward flow in a pipe with heating/upward flow with cooling). In the horizontal case buoyancy causes secondary, transverse motion to be superimposed on the axial flow. If a horizontal pipe is heated, the fluid tends to have an upward component of velocity over the sides and a downward component in the central region and the secondary flow pattern takes the form of two counterrotating vortices. Cooling, rather than heating, produces similar buoyancy-induced secondary circulation but with rotation in the opposite sense.