Natural convection from a heated circular cylinder in horizontal oscillations

Free convection from a heated circular cylinder oscillating horizontally is studied numerically under the conditions of a constant heat flux on the cylinder surface and a constant temperature at far away. The initial conditions of flow and temperature are those of a free convection without the cylinder oscillations. These initial conditions were first obtained from the same procedure by setting the cylinder at zero oscillations. After that, a sinusoidal oscillation is imposed to cool the cylinder. The velocity field is computed with a two-dimensional laminar flow code, and the temperature distribution is calculated simultaneously by iteration. For numerical convenience, the coordinate is fixed with the circular cylinder. Thus the problem is also regarded as the free convection from the heated circular cylinder enhanced by oscillating flows. Various cases of different parameters of Richardson number, Reynolds number and Keulegan-Carpenter number are studied to demonstrate flow patterns and heat transfer characteristics of free convection in oscillating flows. The effects of these parameters on the enhancement of heat transfer by cylinder oscillations are discussed.