Effect of boundary layer thickness before the flow separation on aerodynamic characteristics and heat transfer behind an abrupt expansion in a round tube

Results of numerical investigation of the boundary layer thickness on turbulent separation and heat transfer in a tube with an abrupt expansion are shown. The Menter turbulence model of shear stress transfer implemented in Fluent package was used for calculations. The range of Reynolds numbers was from 5·10³ to 105. The air was used as the working fluid. A degree of tube expansion was (D ₂/D ₁)² = 1.78. A significant effect of thickness of the separated boundary layer both on dynamic and thermal characteristics of the flow is shown. In particular, it was found that with an increase in the boundary layer thickness the recirculation zone increases, and the maximum heat transfer coefficient decreases. The work was financially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project codes 07-08-00025 and 06-08-00300).