Numerical studies on conjugate convection from discretely heated electronic board

Purpose This paper deals with numerical studies into combined conduction, convection and radiation from a heated vertical electronic board are provided here. Design/methodology/approach Here three inbuilt heaters with decrease in their heights were placed in the vertical electronic board. With respect to the non-heat portions, two configurations were studied. The first considers the non-heat portions to be adiabatic, while in the second, they are non-adiabatic. The heat that is produced in three heaters is conducted along the board and is dissipated either from the heater portions alone or from the whole board by convection and radiation. Air is considered as working medium, while the equations of heat transfer and flow of fluid are handled without boundary layer approximations. These equations were further solved using finite volume method with Gauss–Seidel iteration method. Findings Results of various comparative studies were discussed to bring out the relevance of thermal conductivity, modified Richardson number and surface emissivity on different heat transfer and flow results concerning this problem. Originality/value The optimum values of surface emissivity, thermal conductivity and modified Richardson number have also been notionally explored.