COMPRESSIBILITY EFFECTS IN LAMINAR FREE-CONVECTION FROM A VERTICAL CONE

In this paper an analysis of the laminar compressible natural convection about a vertical cone is presented. The governing boundary layer equations are suitably transformed and studied in terms of a compressibility variable expansion. The numerical solutions for the first three terms have been obtained for the ratio of specific heats gamma = 1.4, and a Prandtl number Pr = 0.72, as characteristics of a diatomic gas, and for a range of values of the wall-ambient temperature difference of A = 0.2 to 1000. The numerical results obtained allow an evaluation of the skin friction and heat transfer at the surface of the cone. It is found that the effect of the compressibility is to increase the heat transfer rate at the wall for small values of the wall-ambient temperature difference parameter and to decrease it for large values of this parameter. The skin friction, however, is always reduced.