Parametric and comparative studies on fluid flow and heat transfer from uniformly and non-uniformly heated plates

The current work aims at performing simulation studies on heat transfer through conduction-mixed convection–radiation from a vertical plate embedded with five non-uniform discrete heaters with air as the cooling agent. A normalized set of equations in ω − ψ form is employed to describe the flow and energy interactions. Discretization of these equations into algebraic equations is made using finite volume method. The equations are subsequently solved through Gauss–Seidel iteration technique by making use of an explicitly written C ++ code. The results are initially compared with analytical, numerical and experimental findings tapped from the literature considering the asymptotic limiting cases and are found in a decent agreement with them. A thorough numerical investigation has been executed to elucidate the comparative roles enacted by convection and radiation in heat transfer from the plate. The results comprise (i) local and (ii) maximum temperatures along with (iii) local and (iv) average drag coefficients varying with respect to different independent parameters. Also, certain comparative studies are performed between (i) discretely heated and (ii) uniformly heated plate configurations for the same heat generation in both. The results investigated include (i) plate temperatures—local as well as maximum, (ii) comparative roles exhibited by convection and radiation in heat transfer and average drag coefficient. The studies taken up in this work help in augmenting the existing literature on problems of conjugate mixed convection with surface radiation addressing discretely and uniformly heated plates.