• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.331-344
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• 1987

A numerical analysis has been conducted on the interaction of the thermal radiation and natural convection in a rectangular enclosure filled with a gray fluid. P-1 approximation is adopted for the radiative transfer and its application limit is examined. Considered are the Stark number effect, the optical thickness effect and the wall emissivity effect on the flow and heat transfer characteristics. As the Stark number increase or the optical thickness decreases, the boundary layer thickness and the flow velocity increase. Transition to turbulence is retarded with the increase of the radiation effect. When the optical thickness is one, the radiation effect is negligible for the Stark numbers larger than 10.