CONVECTIVE HEAT TRANSFER TO ROTATING DISKS WITH RIBBED SURFACES

Local heat transfer to a rotating disk in the presence of an imposed axial flow has been studied using thermochromic liquid crystals and the transient heating technique. Preliminary measurements were made for a smooth disk, for which the experimental data encompassed the laminar boundary layer, the transitional zone, and the beginning of the turbulent region. Measurements were then made for arrangements in which a circular trip wire installed concentrically on the disk was used to disturb the boundary layer. The main topic of the investigation concerned convective heat transfer to disks with concentric circular ribs of a rectangular cross section. Three roughness configurations have been investigated, and the results have been compared with data for a smooth disk. The ribs caused an early transition from laminar flow to turbulent flow. Otherwise the augmentation of heat transfer by the circular ribs was rather modest, except with high axial flows and low rotational speeds, when the velocities across the ribs would have been of a similar order of magnitude to the tangential velocities between the ribs.