From Rayleigh–Bénard convection to porous-media convection: how porosity affects heat transfer and flow structure
Shuang Liu, Linfeng Jiang, Kai Leong Chong, Xiaojue Zhu, Zhen‐Hua Wan, Roberto Verzicco, Richard J. A. M. Stevens, Detlef Lohse, Chao Sun
Abstract
We perform a numerical study of the heat transfer and flow structure of Rayleigh–Bénard (RB) convection in (in most cases regular) porous media, which are comprised of circular, solid obstacles located on a square lattice. This study is focused on the role of porosity . The scaling crossover occurs when the thermal boundary layer thickness and the pore scale are comparable. The influences of the porous structure on the temperature and velocity fluctuations, convective heat flux and energy dissipation rates are analysed, further demonstrating the competing effects of the porous structure to enhance or reduce the heat transfer.