Resumen

MADRID, Carmelo N; NAVARRO, José R  y  HERRANZ, Antonio. Application of Discriminated Dimensional Analysis to Free Convection in a Vertical Flat Plate Through a Porous Medium. Inf. tecnol. [online]. 2006, vol.17, n.2, pp. 43-50. ISSN 0718-0764.  doi: 10.4067/S0718-07642006000200007.

Laminar free convection in an impermeable flat plate trough a porous medium has been studied in this paper using discriminated dimensional analysis. With this method, which avoids complicate analytical calculus, solutions were obtained for the thickness of the boundary layer and the heat transfer coefficient in cases involving an isothermal plate and uniform heat flux These solutions agree with analytical results, except for a numerical proportional constant. Discrimination of the dimensions leads to an single monomial for the solution of the problem. Also, application of discriminated dimensional analysis relates the classical numbers Ra_y and Nu_y with the geometry of the problem giving them a physical meaning.

Palabras clave : discriminated dimensional analysis; free convection; vertical flat plate; porous medium.