Unsteady natural convection and heat transfer in a differentially heated cavity with a fin for high Rayleigh numbers

Unsteady natural convection and heat transfer in a differentially heated cavity with a fin at different positions are numerically investigated for a wide range of high Rayleigh numbers from 108 to 1011 and a Prandtl number of Pr = 6.63. The results show that the development of natural convection from the start-up is dependent on the Rayleigh number and the fin position. The transient features of natural convection flows in the cavity are described. A simple scaling analysis is applied for the transient flow around the fin and the dependence of the unsteady flow on the Rayleigh number and the fin position is quantified. Heat transfer through the cavity is examined.