This paper evaluates the existing criteria for predicting the transition to turbulence in natural convection adjacent to a vertical surface. We have conducted an experiment that establishes the point of transition in mercury by means of both hot-film anemometry and local heat transfer measurements. These results confirm the claim of Bejan and Lage that the Grashof number correlates transition data better than the Rayleigh number. We have also concluded that the laminar-turbulent transition in liquid metals as well as regular fluids occurs in the vicinity of Grx=109. Furthermore, we show that the E parameter suggested by Gebhart and his co-workers for predicting the onset of transition, when appropriately modified, yields a criterion that depends on the Grashof number alone.
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Criteria for Predicting the Transition to Turbulence in Natural Convection Along a Vertical Surface
V. L. Vitharana,
V. L. Vitharana
School of Nuclear Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907
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P. S. Lykoudis
P. S. Lykoudis
School of Nuclear Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907
Search for other works by this author on:
V. L. Vitharana
School of Nuclear Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907
P. S. Lykoudis
School of Nuclear Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907
J. Heat Transfer. Aug 1994, 116(3): 633-638 (6 pages)
Published Online: August 1, 1994
Article history
Received:
January 1, 1993
Revised:
September 1, 1993
Online:
May 23, 2008
Citation
Vitharana, V. L., and Lykoudis, P. S. (August 1, 1994). "Criteria for Predicting the Transition to Turbulence in Natural Convection Along a Vertical Surface." ASME. J. Heat Transfer. August 1994; 116(3): 633–638. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2910916
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