Fully developed forced convection through semi-elliptic ducts

An exact solution of the problem of fully developed forced convection through semi-elliptic ducts is obtained under constant axial heat flux and peripherally uniform temperature. The solution is validated by comparing the local and average Nusselt numbers with the published approximate and asymptotic values.     

Similarity conditions for heat transfer in incompressible two-dimensional laminar boundary layer flow

Summary Similarity conditions are presented for the solution of some problems of heat transfer in incompressible two-dimensional boundary layer flow. The treatment holds for forced convection as well as for free convection. For free convection no a priori restriction is made with respect to geometry or temperature distribution of the solid surface. For forced convection the treatment is restricted to uniform bulk flow parallel to a flat surface of non-uniform temperature or heat flux. The results are summarized in some tables that facilitate comparison with older work.     

Combined forced and free flow in a vertical rectangular duct with prescribed wall heat flux

In this paper, combined forced and free convection is studied in a vertical rectangular duct with a prescribed uniform wall heat flux (H2 boundary condition). A different heat flux value for each plane wall is considered; the condition of a uniform wall heat flux throughout the duct results as a special case. The local momentum and energy balance equations are written in a dimensionless form and solved numerically, by means of a Galerkin finite element method. The numerical solution gives the dimensionless velocity and temperature distributions, together with the values of the Fanning friction factor, of the Nusselt number, of the momentum flux correction factor and of the kinetic energy correction factor. These dimensionless parameters are reported as functions of the aspect ratio and of the ratio between the Grashof number, Gr, and the Reynolds number, Re. The threshold values of Gr/Re for the onset of flow reversal are evaluated.     

Transient conduction in a plate cooled by free convection

An approximate analytical solution of the one-dimensional conduction equation with a natural convection boundary condition is presented. The solution is based on the heat balance integral technique and possesses considerable utility. The accuracy of the solution is tested by comparison with an exact solution for a range of linear forced convection problems and with a Crank-Nicolson solution for a range of nonlinear free convection problems. It is demonstrated that significant differences can occur between the temperature responses of a solid cooled by either free of forced convective flow at similar Biot numbers.     

Combined free and forced convection for developed flow in curved pipes with finite curvature ratio

Combined free and forced convection for developed flow in a curved pipe with arbitrary curvature ratio is studied numerically. The curved pipe is heated with axially uniform heat flux, while the wall temperature is maintained peripherally uniform. The buoyancy force is accounted by the Boussinesq approximation. The effects of the Dean, Prandtl, and Rayleigh numbers and especially of a wide range of curvature ratios on the flow resistance and the average heat transfer rate are presented. The significant distortion of the dividing streamline and the appearance of the secondary flow with one dominant cell for pipe flow with higher buoyancy force and curvature ratio are also discussed.     

Nonsimilar Solutions for Mixed Convection in Non-Newtonian Fluids Along Horizontal Surfaces in Porous Media

A nonsimilar boundary layer analysis is presented for the problem of mixed convection in power-law type non-Newtonian fluids along horizontal surfaces with variable heat flux distribution. The mixed convection regime is divided into two regions, namely, the forced convection dominated regime and the free convection dominated regime. The two solutions are matched. Numerical results are presented for the details of the velocity and temperature fields. A discussion is provided for the effect of viscosity index on the surface heat transfer rate.     

Mixed convection in non-Newtonian fluids along a vertical plate with variable surface heat flux in a porous medium

A nonsimilar boundary layer analysis is presented for the problem of mixed convection in power-law type non-Newtonian fluids along a vertical plate with power-law surface heat flux distribution. The mixed convection regime is divided into two regions, namely, the forced convection dominated regime and the free convection dominated regime. The two solutions are matched. Numerical results are presented for the details of the velocity and temperature fields. A discussion is provided for the effect of viscosity index on the surface heat transfer rate. Received on 13 October 1998     

Convective heat transfer in the thermal entrance region of finned double-pipe

Numerical simulation of the steady and laminar convection in the thermal entry region of the finned annulus is carried out for the case of hydrodynamically fully developed flow when subjected to uniform heat flux thermal boundary condition. Finite difference based marching procedure is used to compute the numerical solution of the energy equation. The results to be presented include Nusselt number, as a function of dimensionless axial length and thermal entrance length for various configurations of the finned double-pipe. The numerical results show that Nusselt number has complex dependence on the geometric variables like ratio of radii, fin height, and number of fins. A comparison of the computed results for certain limiting cases with the results available in the literature validates the numerical procedure used in this work.     

Analytical Investigation of the Effect of Viscous Dissipation on Couette Flow in a Channel Partially Filled with a Porous Medium

An analytical study of viscous dissipation effect on the fully developed forced convection Couette flow through a parallel plate channel partially filled with porous medium is presented. A uniform heat flux is imposed at the moving plate while the fixed plate is insulated. In the fluid-only region the flow field is governed by Navier–Stokes equation while the Brinkman-extended Darcy law relationship is considered in the fully saturated porous medium. The interface conditions are formulated with an empirical constant β due to the stress jump boundary condition. Fluid properties are assumed to be constant and the longitudinal heat conduction is neglected. A closed-form solution for the velocity and temperature distributions and also the Nusselt number in the channel are obtained and the viscous dissipation effect on these profiles is briefly investigated.     

A Two-Velocity Two-Temperature Model for a Bi-Dispersed Porous Medium: Forced Convection in a Channel

A two-velocity two-temperature model for bi-dispersed porous media is formulated. Using the model, an analytic solution is obtained for the problem of forced convection in a channel between parallel plane walls that are held either at uniform temperature or uniform heat flux. In each case, Nusselt number values are given as functions of a conductivity ratio, a velocity ratio, a volume fraction, and an internal heat exchange parameter.     

Self-similar thermal boundary layers on plane and axisymmetric bodies

This paper proposes an approximate solution procedure for the prediction of the forced convection heat transfer through self-similar laminar boundary layers. The differential equations governing the viscous and thermal boundary layers have been reduced to a pair of algebraic equations for the boundary layer shape factor and the boundary layer thickness ratio. The local Nusselt number predicted under various pressure gradients turns out to be in excellent agreement with that of the exact solution over a wide range of the Prandtl number.     

An analysis on forced convection in a channel filled with a Brinkman-Darcy porous medium: Exact and approximate solutions

An analysis was made to investigate non-Darcian fully developed flow and heat transfer in a porous channel bounded by two parallel walls subjected to uniform heat flux. The Brinkmanextended Darcy model was employed to study the effect of the boundary viscous frictional drag on hydrodynamic and heat transfer characteristics. An exact expression has been derived for the Nusselt number under the uniform wall heat flux condition. Approximate results were also obtained by exploiting a momentum integral relation and an auxiliary relation implicit in the Brinkmanextended Darcy model. Excellent agreement was confirmed between the approximate and exact solutions even in details of velocity and temperature profiles.     

Free convection in a saturated porous medium adjacent to a vertical impermeable wall subjected to a non-uniform heat flux

Boundary layer analysis is performed for free convection in a fluid-saturated porous medium adjacent to a vertical impermeable wall subjected to a non-uniform heat flux. The wall heat flux is assumed to be an arbitrary function of the distance along the surface. The solutions are obtained in the form of perturbations to the uniform heat flux case. Using the differentials of the wall heat flux, which are functions of the distance along the surface, as perturbation elements, universal functions are obtained. These universal functions can be used to estimate the heat transfer for any type of wall heat flux variation. For the wall heat flux variation as a power function of the distance from the origin, the solutions obtained by using these universal functions have been compared with those obtained by similarity analysis and the agreement is found to be good. Further, solutions are presented for wall heat flux varying exponentially and sinusoidally but comparison could not be drawn due to non-availability of solutions in the literature.     

Analysis of laminar thermal entrance region of elliptical and rectangular channels with Kantorowich method

The Kantorowich method of variational calculus is introduced to solve the problem of laminar forced heat convection in a channel of an arbitrary cross section. Employing this procedure, the development of the temperature field and the heat transfer data in the thermal entrance region of elliptical and rectangular channels are determined, assuming a linear variation of wall temperature in the direction of flow. The uniform and the fully developed velocity profiles are considered. The local Nusselt numbers are tabulated for different aspect ratios.     

Coupled thermo-mechanical analysis of shape memory alloy circular bars in pure torsion

Pure torsion of shape memory alloy (SMA) bars with circular cross section is studied by considering the effect of temperature gradient in the cross sections as a result of latent heat generation and absorption during forward and reverse phase transformations. The local form of energy balance for SMAs by taking into account the heat flux effect is coupled to a closed-form solution of SMA bars subjected to pure torsion. The resulting coupled thermo-mechanical equations are solved for SMA bars with circular cross sections. Several numerical case studies are presented and the necessity of considering the coupled thermo-mechanical formulation is demonstrated by comparing the results of the proposed model with those obtained by assuming an isothermal process during loading–unloading. Pure torsion of SMA bars in various ambient conditions (free and forced convection of air, and forced convection of water flow) subjected to different loading–unloading rates are studied and it is shown that the isothermal solution is valid only for specific combinations of ambient conditions and loading rates.     

Local nonsimilarity solution for the impact of the buoyancy force on heat and mass transfer in a flow over a porous wedge with a heat source in the presence of suction/injection

Combined heat and mass transfer in free, forced and mixed convection flows along a porous wedge with internal heat generation in the presence of uniform suction or injection is investigated. The boundary-layer analysis is formulated in terms of the combined thermal and solute buoyancy effect. The flow field characteristics are analyzed using the Runge-Kutta-Gill method, the shooting method, and the local nonsimilarity method. Due to the effect of the buoyancy force, power law of temperature and concentration, and suction/injection on the wall of the wedge, the flow field is locally nonsimilar. Numerical calculations up to third-order level of truncation are carried out for different values of dimensionless parameters as a special case. The effects of the buoyancy force, suction, heat generation, and variable wall temperature and concentration on the dimensionless velocity, temperature, and concentration profiles are studied. The results obtained are found to be in good agreement with previously published works.     

Forced Convection with Slip-flow in a Channel or Duct Occupied by a Hyper-porous Medium Saturated by a Rarefied Gas

An analytic solution is obtained for forced convection flow in a parallel-plates channel or a circular duct occupied by a hyper-porous medium saturated with a rarefied gas in the slip-flow regime, for the case of uniform flux boundary conditions. As expected, it is found that velocity slip leads in general to increased heat transfer and temperature slip leads to reduced heat transfer.     

Comprehensive correlations for laminar mixed convection on vertical and horizontal flat plates

This paper presents comprehensive correlation equations of the local Nusselt numbers and surface shear stresses for laminar forced convection, natural convection, and mixed convection on vertical and horizontal flat plates which are maintained with uniform wall temperature or uniform surface heat flux. The correlation for pure forced convection and pure natural convection are very accurate for any Prandtl number between 0.001 and infinity. The correlations for mixed convection coincide very well with the numerical results over the entire regimes of mixed convection intensity and Prandtl number for the eight cases of the two plates with distinct thermal boundary conditions and buoyancy-assisting and-opposing flow conditions.     

Numerical and experimental study of free convection above a sinusoidal horizontal plate

A numerical and experimental analysis is performed to study the laminar free convection above a horizontal plate facing upward subjected to an uniform heat flux. The surface of the plate, in contact with the fluid, is described by a sinusoidal profile. The natural convection equations are discretized, using an implicit finite difference technique, based on the finite volume approach. The SIMPLE algorithm assumes the linkage between velocities and pressure fields. The top and the lateral boundaries of the space, where free convection is developing, are determined by using an iterative procedure. The temperature fields of the fluid, over the plate, are visualized by an experimental device, which can realize a simultaneous measurement of the temperature and the position. Qualitative information about the natural convection flow above the plate is obtained by using a laser tomography technique. The numerical results show that the flow and the heat transfer are strongly affected by the amplitude, the period of the sinusoidal profile and the type of fluid. Comparisons between numerical and experimental results show a good qualitative agreement.     

A theoretical analysis of forced convection in a porous-saturated circular tube: Brinkman–Forchheimer model

Fully developed forced convection inside a circular tube filled with saturated porous medium and with uniform heat flux at the wall is investigated on the basis of a Brinkman–Forchheimer model. The matched asymptotic expansion method is applied at small Darcy numbers. For large Darcy numbers, the solution for the Brinkman–Forchheimer momentum equation is found in terms of an asymptotic expansion. Once the velocity distribution is determined, the energy equation is solved using the same asymptotic technique. The results for the two limiting cases of clear fluid and Darcy flow conditions show good agreement with those available in the literature.