Study of the Laminar Free-Convection Wake Above an Isothermal Vertical Plate

The steady, laminar, two-dimensional wake above a thin vertical isothermal heated plate cooled by free convection was investigated theoretically and experimentally. The system of partial differential equations governing the fluid motion and heat transfer in the vicinity of the plate and in the near wake region was formulated and solved using finite difference techniques. Using air, the temperature and velocity profiles in the wake region were measured experimentally using a laser holographic interferometer and a constant temperature hot wire anemometer.