ABSTRACT
Mixed convection is relatively common in nature. Mixed convection refers to conditions when forced and natural effects are both important, and neither one can be neglected. Situations where forced and buoyancy-driven convection terms are of similar orders of magnitude obviously fall in mixed convection flow category. A numerical solution of laminar mixed convection on flat surfaces is relatively straightforward. The experimental data and numerical solution results generally confirm that in laminar flow assisting mixed convection leads to a heat transfer coefficient that is larger than the heat transfer coefficients resulting from either pure forced or pure natural convection. Boundary layer separation can occur on a heated, upward-facing surface or a cooled, downward-facing surface and is similar to the process that causes intermittency on horizontal surfaces in natural convection. Internal flow mixed convection is significantly more complicated than internal flow natural or forced convection.
