| 10| Cavities and Enclosures Introduction

Enclosures (or Cavities) is the case where a fluid is trapped inside a body or region where there is a temperature gradient across the body or region. The Rayleigh’s Number and heat flux for this case can be calculated using the following equations:

Variation of τ   

Varying the angle at which the cavity sits with respect to gravity will affect the movement of the fluid inside the cavity, and hence influence how the Nusselt Number is calculated.

If τ = 0o or 180o, then the cavity is considered a Horizontal Cavity

If τ = 90o, then the cavity is considered a Vertical Cavity