UNIVERSAL FORMULATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE CORRELATIONS FOR NON-DARCY NATURAL-CONVECTION AND MIXED CONVECTION IN POROUS-MEDIA

Universal similarity equations of non-Darcy mixed convection along an isothermal vertical plate and a uniform-flux horizontal plate in porous media are obtained by introducing proper transformation variables. Very accurate similarity solutions and comprehensive correlation equations of the local Nusselt numbers are presented over the entire range of flow inertia including the Darcy and non-Darcy regimes for any mixed convection intensity from the pure forced convection limit to the pure natural convection limit. The finite-difference solution and correlation of the local Nusselt number for any extent of flow inertia are also presented for natural convection along a vertical plate with uniform wall heat flux.