Natural convection in a triangular enclosure induced by solar radiation is simulated and analyzed. The numerical simulation reveals three possible distinct flow regimes in the enclosure. It also reveals the variations of the dominant heat transfer mode and the flow status with the horizontal position along the wedge. The whole domain can be divided horizontally into several regions according to the dominant mode of heat transfer. For small Rayleigh numbers, heat transfer over the entire domain is dominated by conduction. For medium Rayleigh numbers, there are two distinct regions. Heat transfer in the near shore region is dominated by conduction. As the distance from the shore increases, stable convection becomes the dominant mode. The region dominated by stable convection expands with increasing Rayleigh number. For high Rayleigh numbers, the whole region can be divided into three distinct regions where the dominant mode of heat transfer changes from conduction to stable convection and then to unstable convection as the distance from the shore increases. The region of flow instability also expands with increasing Rayleigh number.
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