Int. J. of Applied Mechanics and Engineering, 2008, vol.13, No.4, pp.

875-887

A FINITE DIFFERENCE METHOD TO FIND VELOCITY AND TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION FOR PARALLEL PLATE CHANNEL M.K. BANERJEE1
Department of Mechanical Engineering College of Engineering and Management, K.T.P.S. Township, 721 171, West Bengal, INDIA Email: moloy_kb@yahoo.com

R. BANERJEE
Department of Instrumentation and Electronics Engineering, Jadavpur University, Salt Lake Campus-Kolkata, 700 098, West Bengal, INDIA Email: runuroy@yahoo.com

The continuity equation and the simplified version of the time dependent boundary layer momentum and energy equations are solved simultaneously for flow between two parallel plates, using an explicit numerical procedure. Solving the three equations simultaneously eliminates the need to assume the shape of the velocity and temperature profiles. Furthermore, this approach provides a picture of the variation of the velocity and temperature within the entire channel. The steady-state solution is obtained by letting time become very large. The shape of the velocity and temperature profiles seems to be consistent with theoretical expectations. The velocity and temperature profiles become fully developed at approximately x/a = 0.05 Re for Pr = 1, as expected. Keywords: Finite Difference Method, Parallel Plate Channel, Laminar Flow, Steady State and Fully Developed situation, velocity and Temperature Distribution.

1. Problem Statement Consider the laminar flow between two parallel plate channel. The flow situation we have considered here is hydrodynamically and thermally developing. We want to devise a numerical procedure to obtain the shape of the velocity and temperature profiles at different location of the channel cross-section as well as to predict the fully developed velocity and temperature profile. 2. Introduction In many engineering applications the small flow rates often make the flow laminar. The approach taken here, is an attempt to provide a complete picture of laminar flow in a channel by considering the timedependent flow in the entrance and fully developed regions of a parallel-plate channel. The fig. (1) tells about the geometry of the flow, where the centerline of the channel is taken as x-axis, and a is the half width of the channel. 3. Theoretical Consideration When energy transfer takes place between a solid surface and a fluid system in motion, the process is known as convection and when this motion is caused due to the density difference it is termed as natural
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