Numerical analysis of natural convection heat transfer from rectangular shrouded fin arrays on a horizontal surface

The main aim of this investigation is to discover the effects of clearance parameters on the steady-state heat transfer. In order to solve the three-dimensional elliptic governing equations, a finite volume based CFD code was used. The clearance gap between fin tips and shroud, the base and fin temperatures and the size and configuration of the finned surfaces were varied during the parametric study. The numerical results have been compared to existing experimental values from the literature and the comparison shows a good agreement. It is found that the heat transfer coefficient increases with the increase in the clearance parameter and it approaches to the value of beat transfer coefficient obtained for unshrouded fin arrays. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.