Application Of The Finite Element Method To Calcluate Flow Patterns In Glass Tank Furnaces

An account is given of the application of the finite element method to the solution of problems of convection flow. The method has the advantage that it can easily be applied to the problems in which the fluid is in a container of complicated shape and the fineness of the mesh used in the calculation can easily be varied from one region to another. Solutions are presented for flow in a rectangular container and also in the longitudinal central plane of a throated tank furnace. Results for the velocity distribution in the throat are compared with values obtained by analytical methods.