Experimental investigation to study flow and heat transfer characteristics over a NACA0018 aerofoil for different height ratios

Experiments are carried out to study flow and heat transfer characteristics over NACA0018 aerofoil when the body approaches the wall of a wind tunnel. Investigations have been done to study the effect of wall proximity due to flow separation around the body at Reynolds number 2.5 × 10⁵, different height ratios and various angles of attack. The static pressure distribution has been measured on upper and lower surfaces of the aerofoil. The results have been presented in the form of pressure coefficient, drag coefficient for different height ratios. Pressure coefficient values are decreased and then increased on the lower surface of the aerofoil and decreased on the upper surface of the aerofoil at all angles of attack. The negative pressure coefficient and drag coefficient decreases as the body approaches the upper wall of wind tunnel. The maximum value of drag coefficient has been observed at an angle of attack 30° for the aerofoil at all height ratios. The Heat transfer experiments have been carried out under constant heat flux condition. Heat transfer coefficients are determined from the measured wall temperature and ambient temperature and presented in the form of Nusselt number. The variation of local as well as average Nusselt number has been shown with non dimensional distance for different angles of attack and for various height ratios. The local as well as average Nusselt number decreases as the height ratio decreases for all non-dimensional distance and angles of attack respectively. Maximum value of average Nusselt number has been observed at an angle of attack 40°.     

Heat transfer and friction factor of turbulent flow through a horizontal semi-circular duct

Forced convection heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of air flow inside a horizontal semi-circular duct are investigated experimentally. The experiments are carried out on a semi-circular duct of 23 mm inner radius, 2 mm thickness, and 2,000 mm length within a range of Reynolds number (8,242 ≤ Re ≤ 57,794)., under uniform wall heat flux conditions. The friction factor is determined by measuring the axial static pressure at different selected axial stations along the semi-circular duct. The variations of surface and mean air temperatures, local heat transfer coefficient, local Nusselt number, and the friction factor with the axial dimensionless distance are presented. It is observed that, for a given value of Reynolds number, each of the local heat transfer coefficient and the friction factor has a relatively high value near the entrance of the semi-circular duct then it decreases with increasing the dimensionless axial distance until it approaches a nearly constant value at the fully developed region. Also, it is found that, with increasing the Reynolds number the average heat transfer coefficient is increased and the friction factor is decreased. Moreover, empirical correlations for the heat transfer coefficient and friction factor as a function of the Reynolds number are obtained.     

Experimental investigation of mixed convection heat transfer in a horizontal and inclined rectangular channel

 Mixed convection heat transfer in rectangular channels has been investigated experimentally under various operating conditions. The lower surface of the channel is subjected to a uniform heat flux, sidewalls are insulated and adiabatic, and the upper surface is exposed to the surrounding fluid. Experiments were conducted for Pr=0.7, aspect ratios AR=5 and 10, inclination angles 0° ≤ θ ≤ 30°, Reynolds numbers 50 ≤ Re ≤ 1000, and modified Grashof numbers Gr*=7.0 × 10⁵ to 4.0 × 10⁷. From the parametric study, local Nusselt number distributions were obtained and effects of channel inclination, surface heat flux and Reynolds number on the onset of instability were investigated. Results related to the buoyancy affected secondary flow and the onset of instability have been discussed. Some of the results obtained from the experimental measurements are also compared with the literature, and a good agreement was observed. The onset of instability was found to move upstream for increasing Grashof number and increasing aspect ratio. On the other hand, onset of instability was delayed for increasing Reynolds number and increasing inclination angle. Received on 19 March 2001 / Published online: 29 November 2001     

Heat transfer performance comparison of steam and air in gas turbine cooling channels with different rib angles

Using steam as working fluid to replace compressed air is a promising cooling technology for internal cooling passages of blades and vanes. The local heat transfer characteristics and the thermal performance of steam flow in wide aspect ratio channels (W/H = 2) with different angled ribs on two opposite walls have been experimentally investigated in this paper. The averaged Nusselt number ratios and the friction factor ratios of steam and air in four ribbed channels were also measured under the same test conditions for comparison. The Reynolds number range is 6,000–70,000. The rib angles are 90°, 60°, 45°, and 30°, respectively. The rib height to hydraulic diameter ratio is 0.047. The pitch-to-rib height ratio is 10. The results show that the Nusselt number ratios of steam are 1.19–1.32 times greater than those of air over the range of Reynolds numbers studied. For wide aspect ratio channels using steam as the coolant, the 60° angled ribs has the best heat transfer performance and is recommended for cooling design.     

Natural convection of an alumina-water nanofluid inside an inclined wavy-walled cavity with a non-uniform heating using Tiwari and Das’ nanofluid model

The present study is devoted to numerical analysis of natural convective heat transfer and fluid flow of alumina-water nanofluid in an inclined wavy-walled cavity under the effect of non-uniform heating. A single-phase nanofluid model with experimental correlations for the nanofluid viscosity and thermal conductivity has been included in the mathematical model. The considered governing equations formulated in dimensionless stream function, vorticity, and temperature have been solved by the finite difference method. The cavity inclination angle and irregular walls (wavy and undulation numbers) are very good control parameters for the heat transfer and fluid flow. Nowadays, optimal parameters are necessary for the heat transfer enhancement in different practical applications. The effects of the involved parameters on the streamlines and isotherms as well as on the average Nusselt number and nanofluid flow rate have been analyzed. It has been found that the heat transfer rate and fluid flow rate are non-monotonic functions of the cavity inclination angle and undulation number.     

Numerical and experimental studies of natural convective heat transfer from vertical and inclined narrow isothermal flat plates

Natural convective heat transfer from an isothermal narrow flat plate embedded in a plane adiabatic surface and inclined at moderate positive and negative angles to the vertical has been numerically and experimentally studied. The solution has the Rayleigh number, the dimensionless plate width, the angle of inclination, and the Prandtl number as parameters. Attention was restricted to a Prandtl number of 0.7. The numerical results have been obtained for Rayleigh numbers between 10³ and 10⁷ for dimensionless plate widths of between 0.3 and 1.2 and for angles of inclination between +45° and −45°. In the experimental study, results have been obtained for Rayleigh numbers between 4 × 10² and 10⁵ for dimensionless plate widths of 0.4 and 2.5 and for angles of inclination between +45° and −45° to the vertical. Empirical equations for the heat transfer rate have been derived.     

Effects of aspect ratio and orientation on the wake characteristics of low Reynolds number flow over a triangular prism

The wake characteristics of unconfined flows over triangular prisms of different aspect ratios have been numerically analysed in the present work. For this purpose, a fixed Cartesian-grid based numerical technique that involves the porous medium approach to mimic the effect of solid blockage has been utilised. Correspondingly, laminar flow simulations ranging from the sub-critical regime (before the onset of vortex shedding) to the super-critical regime have been considered here within the limits of two-dimensionality. In the sub-critical regime, correlations relating the wake bubble length with Reynolds number (Re) have been proposed for various aspect ratios. Also, the effects of aspect ratio and Reynolds Number on the drag force coefficient (C_D) have been characterised for two different geometrical orientations of the prism (base or apex facing the flow). Subsequently, the critical Reynolds number at the onset of vortex shedding has been predicted for each of the aspect ratio considered, by an extrapolation procedure. The unsteady flow characteristics of the super-critical regime are finally highlighted for different aspect ratios and triangular orientations considered in the study.     

Flow of couple stress fluid with variable thermal conductivity

The steady flow and heat transfer of a couple stress fluid due to an inclined stretching cylinder are analyzed. The thermal conductivity is assumed to be temperature dependent. The governing equations for the flow and heat transfer are transformed into ordinary differential equations. Series solutions of the resulting problem are computed. The effects of various interested parameters, e.g., the couple stress parameter, the angle of inclination, the mixed convection parameter, the Prandtl number, the Reynolds number, the radiation parameter, and the variable thermal conductivity parameter, are illustrated. The skin friction coefficient and the local Nusselt number are computed and analyzed. It is observed that the heat transfer rate at the surface increases while the velocity and the shear stress decrease when the couple stress parameter and the Reynolds number increase. The temperature increases when the Reynolds number increases.     

Turbulent flow structure and heat transfer in an inclined bubbly flow. Experimental and numerical investigation

The effect of channel inclination on the variation in the wall shear stress and the heat transfer in a two-phase bubbly flow in a rectangular channel is experimentally and numerically investigated. The wall friction was measured using the electrodiffusion method and the temperature was measured by tiny platinum resistance thermometers. The model is based on the system of RANS equations with account for the back influence of the bubbles on the flow characteristics. Flow turbulence is calculated according to the model of transport of the Reynolds stress tensor components. It is shown that in the gas-liquid flow the angle of the channel inclination to the horizon can have a considerable effect on the friction and the heat transfer. The greatest friction and heat transfer values correspond to the angles of channel inclination ranging from 30 to 50°. In the inclined two-phase bubbly flow the shear stress enhancement on the wall amounts to 30% and that of the heat transfer to 15%. A friction and heat transfer reduction to 10 and 25%, respectively, is noticed in near-horizontal flows.     

A numerical study of the steady forced convection heat transfer from an unconfined circular cylinder

Forced convection heat transfer from an unconfined circular cylinder in the steady cross-flow regime has been studied using a finite volume method (FVM) implemented on a Cartesian grid system in the range as 10 ≤ Re ≤ 45 and 0.7 ≤ Pr ≤ 400. The numerical results are used to develop simple correlations for Nusselt number as a function of the pertinent dimensionless variables. In addition to average Nusselt number, the effects of Re, Pr and thermal boundary conditions on the temperature field near the cylinder and on the local Nusselt number distributions have also been presented to provide further physical insights into the nature of the flow. The rate of heat transfer increases with an increase in the Reynolds and/or Prandtl numbers. The uniform heat flux condition always shows higher value of heat transfer coefficient than the constant wall temperature at the surface of the cylinder for the same Reynolds and Prandtl numbers. The maximum difference between the two values is around 15–20%.     

Experimental investigation of flow and heat transfer in rectangular cross-sectioned duct with baffles mounted on the bottom surface with different inclination angles

In this study, steady-state forced convection heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics in a horizontal rectangular cross-sectioned duct, baffles mounted on the bottom surface with different inclination angles were investigated experimentally in the Reynolds number range from 1 × 10³ to 1 × 10⁴. The study was performed under turbulent flow conditions. Effects of different baffle inclination angles on flow and heat transfer were studied. Results are also presented in terms of thermal enhancement factor. It is observed that increasing in baffle inclination angle enhances the heat transfer and causes an increase in pressure drop in the duct.     

Fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics for a square prism (blockage ratio = 0.1) placed inside a wind tunnel

Experimental investigations in fluid flow and heat transfer have been carried out to study the effect of wall proximity due to flow separation around a square prism at Reynolds number 2.6 × 10⁴, blockage ratio 0.1, different height-ratios and various angles of attack. The static pressure distribution has been measured on all faces of the square prism. The results have been presented in the form of pressure coefficient, drag coefficient for various height-ratios. The pressure distribution shows positive values on the front face whereas on the rear face negative values of the pressure coefficient have been observed. The positive pressure coefficient for different height-ratios does not vary too much but the negative values of pressure coefficient are higher for all points on the surface as the bluff body approaches towards the upper wall of the wind tunnel. The drag coefficient decreases with the increase in angle of attack as the height-ratio decreases. The maximum value of drag coefficient has been observed at an angle of attack nearly 50° for the square prism at all height-ratios. The heat transfer experiments have been carried out under constant heat flux condition. Heat transfer coefficient are determined from the measured wall temperature and ambient temperature and presented in the form of Nusselt number. Both local and average Nusselt numbers have been presented for various height-ratios. The variation of local Nusselt number has been shown with non-dimensional distance for different angles of attack. The variation of average Nusselt number has also been shown with different angles of attack. The local as well as average Nusselt number decreases as the height-ratio decreases for all non-dimensional distance and angle of attack, respectively, for the square prism. The average Nusselt number for the square prism varies with the angle of attack. But there is no definite angle of attack at which the value of average Nusselt number is either maximum or minimum.     

Entry region of louvered fin heat exchangers

The dominant thermal resistance for most compact heat exchangers occurs on the gas side and as such an understanding of the gas side flowfield is needed before improving current designs. Louvered fins are commonly used in many compact heat exchangers to increase the surface area and initiate new boundary layer growth. For this study, detailed flowfield measurements were made in the entry region of several louvered fin geometries whereby the louver angle, ratio of fin pitch to louver pitch, and Reynolds number were all varied. In addition to mean velocity measurements, time-resolved velocity measurements were made to quantify unsteady effects.

The results indicated larger fin pitches resulted in lower average flow angles in the louver passages and longer development lengths. Larger louver angles with a constant ratio of fin pitch to louver pitch resulted in higher average flow angles and shorter development lengths. As the Reynolds number increased, longer development lengths were required and higher average flow angles occurred as compared with a lower Reynolds number case. Time-resolved velocity measurements indicated some flow periodicity behind the fully developed louver for a range of Reynolds numbers. The Strouhal number of these fluctuations was constant for a given louver geometry, but the value increased with increasing fin pitch.     

Forced convective flow and heat transfer of upward cocurrent air–water slug flow in vertical plain and swirl tubes

This experimental study comparatively examined the two-phase flow structures, pressured drops and heat transfer performances for the cocurrent air–water slug flows in the vertical tubes with and without the spiky twisted tape insert. The two-phase flow structures in the plain and swirl tubes were imaged using the computerized high frame-rate videography with the Taylor bubble velocity measured. Superficial liquid Reynolds number (Re_L) and air-to-water mass flow ratio (AW), which were respectively in the ranges of 4000–10000 and 0.003–0.02 were selected as the controlling parameters to specify the flow condition and derive the heat transfer correlations. Tube-wise averaged void fraction and Taylor bubble velocity were well correlated by the modified drift flux models for both plain and swirl tubes at the slug flow condition. A set of selected data obtained from the plain and swirl tubes was comparatively examined to highlight the impacts of the spiky twisted tape on the air–water interfacial structure and the pressure drop and heat transfer performances. Empirical heat transfer correlations that permitted the evaluation of individual and interdependent Re_L and AW impacts on heat transfer in the developed flow regions of the plain and swirl tubes at the slug flow condition were derived.     

Core stratification effects on natural convection in inclined cavities

A numerical and experimental study has been made on the flow and heat transfer in inclined air-filled cavities with aspect ratios 1–18 at Ra numbers from 2·10⁴–5·10⁵ and angles of inclination from 40 to 90°. Core stratification influences the flow. Due to this there arises a torque with two components depending on angle of inclination. On basis of the two torques the computed effects on flow and temperature fields can be explained. For the heat transfer a scaling law could be derived. Experimental data validate the numerical studies.     

Studies on convective heat transfer through helical coils

An experimental investigation on steady state convection heat transfer from vertical helical coiled tubes in water was performed for laminar flow regime. Three coils with curvature ratios as 0.0757, 0.064, 0.055 and range of Prandtl number from 3.81 to 4.8, Reynolds number from 3,166 to 9,658 were considered in this work. The heat transfer data were generated from 30 experiments conducted at constant water bath temperature (60 °C) for different cold water flow rates in helical coils. For the first time, an innovative approach of correlating Nusselt number with ‘M’ number is proposed which is not available in the literature and the developed correlations are found to be in good agreement with the work of earlier researchers. Thus, dimensionless number ‘M’ was found to be significant to characterize the hydrodynamics of fluid flow and heat transfer correlations in helical coils. Several other correlations based on experimental data are developed. To cover wide range of industrial applications, suitable generalized correlations based on extended parameters beyond the range of present experimental work are also developed. All these correlations are developed by using least-squares power law fit and multiple-regression analysis of MATLAB software. Correlations so developed were compared with published correlations and were found to be in good agreement. Comparison of heat transfer coefficients, friction factor and Nusselt number for different geometrical conditions is presented in this paper.     

Effects of prescribed heat flux and transpiration on MHD axisymmetric flow impinging on stretching cylinder

A numerical treatment for axisymmetric flow and heat transfer due to a stretching cylinder under the influence of a uniform magnetic field and prescribed surface heat flux is presented. Numerical results are obtained for dimensionless velocity, temperature, skin friction coefficient and Nusselt number for several values of the suction/injection, magnetic and curvature parameters as well as the Prandtl number. The present study reveals that the controlling parameters have strong effects on the physical quantities of interest. It is seen that the magnetic field enhances the dimensionless temperature inside the thermal boundary layer, whereas it reduces the dimensionless velocity inside the hydrodynamic boundary layer. Heat transfer rate reduces, while the skin friction coefficient increases with magnetic field.     

Experimental and numerical investigation of transition to turbulent flow and heat transfer inside a horizontal smooth rectangular duct under uniform bottom surface temperature

In this study, steady-state turbulent forced flow and heat transfer in a horizontal smooth rectangular duct both experimentally and numerically investigated. The study was carried out in the transition to turbulence region where Reynolds numbers range from 2,323 to 9,899. Flow is hydrodynamically and thermally developing (simultaneously developing flow) under uniform bottom surface temperature condition. A commercial CFD program Ansys Fluent 12.1 with different turbulent models was used to carry out the numerical study. Based on the present experimental data and three-dimensional numerical solutions, new engineering correlations were presented for the heat transfer and friction coefficients in the form of $ {\text{Nu}} = {\text{C}}_{2} {\text{Re}}^{{{\text{n}}_{ 1} }} $ and $ {\text{f}} = {\text{C}}_{3} {\text{Re}}^{{{\text{n}}_{3} }} $ , respectively. The results have shown that as the Reynolds number increases heat transfer coefficient increases but Darcy friction factor decreases. It is seen that there is a good agreement between the present experimental and numerical results. Examination of heat and mass transfer in rectangular cross-sectioned duct for different duct aspect ratio (α) was also carried out in this study. Average Nusselt number and average Darcy friction factor were expressed with graphics and correlations for different duct aspect ratios.     

垂直湍流液-固流中大颗粒的相对速度

通过量纲分析和实验测量,对于垂直、局部均匀的湍流稀态液一固流中,大颗粒的相对速度,建立了无量纲参数表达式．用分析和实验相结合的方法,确定了表达式中无量纲参数的幂次及有关系数．实验中用激光多普勒分相测量技术,分别测出流体和颗粒的时均速度结果表明,大颗粒相对速度强烈依赖于流体雷诺数,当流体雷诺数较高时,其幂次渐近于1.5。     

Forced convective heat transfer from premixed flames —Part 2: Impingement heat transfer

A study of convective heat transfer from impinging flames is completed with the presentation of heat transfer rates measured in premixed methane-air flames. Unburnt gas equivalence ratios from 0.8 to 1.2 have been examined, with burner exit Reynolds numbers ranging from 2000 to 12 000. Heat fluxes measured at the stagnation point of a body of revolution and a circular cylinder demonstrate that the trends observed in measured heat flux profiles are mainly determined by variations in the mean velocity and temperature within a flame, with peak heat transfer rates occuring within or close to the flame reaction zone. Increases in Reynolds number lead to an increase in the peak heat flux attained within a flame and to a decrease in the axial extent of the flame equilibrium region. Variations in equivalence ratio away from approximately stoichiometric conditions lead to a decrease in the maximum rate of heat transfer from a flame and to a shifting of the position of maximum flux downstream. Theoretical predictions applicable to the equilibrium region of the flames are in reasonable accord with experimental data.