Finite element solutions of laminar flow and heat transfer of air in a staggered and an in-line tube bank

A finite element method is used to solve the full Navier-Stokes and energy equations for the problems of laminar flow and heat transfer characteristics of air around three isothermal heated horizontal cylinders in a staggered tube bank and around four isothermal heated horizontal cylinders in an in line tube bank. The variations of surface shear stress, pressure and Nusselt number are obtained over the entire cylinder surface, including the zone beyond the separation point. The predicted values of total drag, pressure drag and friction drag coefficients, average Nusselt number, and the plots of velocity flow fields and isotherms are also presented.     

Finite element solutions for laminar flow and combined convection around a square prism

The finite element solutions of the full Navier-Stokes and energy equations for steady laminar flow and combined convection around square prisms with attack angles of 0° and 45° are obtained for a gas having Pr=0.7. The variations of surface shear stress, local pressure and Nusselt number are obtained over the entire prism surface including the zone beyond the point of the separation. The predicted values of drag coefficients, the location of separation, average Nusselt number and the plots of velocity flow fields and isotherms are also presented. The trend of the present numerical results seems reasonable.

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Finite-Elemente-Verfahren für laminare Strömung und kombinierte Naturkonvektion um ein quadratisches Prisma

Zusammenfassung Es wird über Lösungen der Navier-Stokesund der Energiegleichungen mit Hilfe der Finite-Elemente-Methode für stationäre laminare Strömung, kombiniert mit Naturkonvektion, um ein quadratisches Prisma berichtet, wobei als Anströmwinkel 0° und 45° gewählt wurden und Gasströmung mitPr=0,7 angenommen wurde. Die Rechnung ergibt den Verlauf der Wandschubspannungen, des örtlichen Druckes und der Nusselt-Zahl über die gesamte Oberfläche des Prismas, einschließlich des Bereiches hinter dem Ablösepunkt. Weiterhin werden in dem Aufsatz Angaben gemacht über die Widerstandskoeffizienten, die Lage des Ablösepunktes, der mittleren Nusselt-Zahl sowie der Geschwindigkeits- und Temperaturfelder. Die numerischen Ergebnisse erscheinen im Trend vernünftig zu sein.

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Nomenclature a side length of square - C _f friction drag coefficient - C _p pressure drag coefficient - C _D total drag coefficient - F _f total friction drag force - F _P total pressure drag force - Gr Groshoff number,g (T _w -T )a ³/v ² - g gravitational acceleration - h local heat transfer coefficient - K thermal conductivity - L dimensionless location of surface from the front stagna tion point,L ^*/a - L ^* dimension location of prism surface - Lc location of separation - N _j shape function - Nu, local and average Nusselt numbers - M _l shape function - P dimensionless pressure,p ^*/u ² - P ^* pressure - p _x ^* x-componentP ^* - Pe Peclet number,Re Pr - Pr Prandtl number, c/K - Ra Rayleigh number,Gr Pr - Re Reynolds number,a u /v - s direction along the sides of prism - u dimensionlessX-direction component of velocity,u ^*/u - u ^* X-direction component of velocity - u free stream velocity - dimensionlessY-direction component of velocity,v*/u - ^* Y-direction component of velocity - X X-direction axis - x dimensionlessX-direction coordinate,x ^*/a - x ^* X- direction coordinate - Y Y-direction axis - y ^* dimensionless 7-direction coordinate,y ^*/a - y ^* Y-direction coordinate Greek symbols coefficient of volumetric thermal expansion - attack angle - dynamic viscosity - kinematic viscosity,/ - density of fluid - _w dimensionless surface shear stress, _w ^* /u ² - _w ^* surface shear stress - _wx ^* x-component of _w ^/* - dimensionless temperature,      

Finite element solutions for laminar and turbulent compressible flow

The time-split finite element method is extended to compute laminar and turbulent flows with and without separation. The examples considered are the flows past trailing edges of a flat plate and a backward-facing step. Eddy viscosity models are used to represent effects of turbulence. It is found that the time-split method produces results in agreement with previous experimental and computational results. The eddy viscosity models employed are found to give accurate predictions in all regions of flow except downstream of reattachment.     

A finite element formulation for laminar flow of a fluid with microstructure

A finite element formulation for the steady laminar flow of an incompressible fluid with microstructure has been developed. The particular fluids considered are commonly known as micropolar fluids, in which case suspended particulate microstructures are modelled by an ‘extended’ continuum formulation. The particle microspin is a new kinematic variable which is independent of the classical vorticity vector and thereby allows relative rotation between particles and the surrounding fluid. This formulation also gives rise to couple stresses in addition to classical force or traction stresses. The finite element formulation utilizes a variational approach and imposes conservation of mass through a penalty function. A general boundary condition for microspin has been incorporated whereby microspin at a solid boundary is constrained to be proportional to the fluid vorticity. The proportionality constant in this case can vary from zero to unity. Sample solutions are presented for fully developed flow through a straight tube and compared with an analytical solution. Results are also generated for flow through a constricted tube and compared with a Newtonian fluid solution.     

Experimental study of combined free and forced laminar convection in an asymmetrically heated two-dimensional aiding flow

An experimental study of mixed convection in an asymmetrically heated two-dimensional flow of water has been made. Experiments in fully developed turbulent flow (Re maximum=9000) were made initially to establish the satisfactory operation of the equipment. In the mixed convection laminar flow tests to determine local Nusselt numbers, the Reynolds number range was from about 100 to 1000 with the Rayleigh number based on heat flux varying from about 10 to 300. The data, which are presented graphically, have been compared with the results of the theoretical analyses of other workers. The effect of buoyancy in the immediate entry of the flow [(x/de)/Re Pr <.05] was found to be negligible, but at greater distances there were significant increases in the heat transfer coefficient with the larger values of Rayleigh number.     

Forced convection with laminar pulsating flow in a tube

The heat transfer model of laminar pulsating flow in a tube in rolling motion is established. The correlations of velocity, temperature and Nusselt number are obtained. The effects of several parameters on Nusselt number are investigated. The theoretical results are consistent with experimental data. Then the results are evaluated with Nield and Kuznetsov’s results. It is found that Nield and Kuznetsov’s results are not applicable for the laminar pulsating flow in nuclear power systems in ocean environments.     

Modelling of two‐dimensional laminar flow using finite element method

In this paper, a Galerkin weighted residual finite element numerical solution method, with velocity material time derivative discretisation, is applied to solve for a classical fluid mechanics system of partial differential equations modelling two‐dimensional stationary incompressible Newtonian fluid flow. Classical examples of driven cavity laminar flow and laminar flow past a cylinder are presented. Numerical results are compared with data found in the literature. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Combined forced and natural convection in laminar film flow

A mathematical model for the flow and heat transfer in a gravity-driven liquid film is presented, in which the strict Boussinesq approximation is adopted to account for buoyancy. A similarity transformation reduces the governing equations to a coupled set of ordinary differential equations. The resulting two-parameter problem is solved numerically for Prandtl numbers ranging from 1 to 1000. Favourable buoyancy arises when the temperatureT _w of the isothermal surface is lower than the temperatureT ₀ of the incoming fluid, and the principal effects of the aiding buoyancy are to increase the wall shear and heat transfer rate. For unfavourable buoyancy (T _w>T ₀), the buoyancy force and gravity act in opposite directions and the flow in the film boundary layer decelerates, whereas the friction and heat transfer are reduced. The observed effects of buoyancy diminish appreciably for higher Prandtl numbers.     

Numerical investigation of transient laminar natural convection of air in a tall cavity

Transient laminar natural convection of air in a tall cavity has been studied numerically. The Navier-Stokes and Energy equations were solved by the accurate projection method (PmIII), in which the derived Poisson equation for pressure potential was solved by the approximate factorization one method (AF1). The aspect ratio of the tall cavity is 16, and the Prandtl number of air filled in the tall cavity is 0.71. To obtain the numerical results of heat transfer by natural convection of air in the tall cavity, the second order schemes for the space and time discretizations were utilized. The availability of the numerical algorithm was also assessed by considering the natural convection of air in a square cavity which is differentially heated from side walls. It was found that the overall Nusselt numbers for the Rayleigh numbers covering the range from 1000 to 100000 reveal a good agreement with measured data. When Ra takes the value in the range from 100000 to 600000, the overall Nusselt number have a relative deviation less than 18% from the experimental data. For the suddenly heating mode, the multicellular flow pattern occurs when Rayleigh number belongs to the range of Ra from 7000 to 20000. or greater than 115000. At the critical number of cats' eye instability, the cell distance is just twice of the cavity width. This is rather similar to the observed result for Bénard problem. When Ra is over 115000, a further increase of heat flux across the tall cavity causes serious cell-breaking. There are 8 cells when Ra = 600000.     

A finite element analysis of the steady laminar entrance flow in a 90° curved tube

A standard Galerkin finite element penalty function method is used to approximate the solution of the three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations for steady incompressible Newtonian entrance flow in a 90° curved tube (curvature ratio δ = 1/6) for a triple of Dean numbers (κ = 41, 122 and 204). The computational results for the intermediate Dean number (κ = 122) are compared with the results of laser–Doppler velocity measurements in an equivalent experimental model. For both the axial and secondary velocity components, fair agreement between the computational and experimental results is found.     

Numerical simulation of laminar flow and heat transfer over banks of staggered cylinders

A study is conducted to investigate forced convective flow and heat transfer over a bank of staggered cylinders. Using a novel numerical formulation based on a non‐orthogonal collocated grid in a physical plane, the effects of Reynolds number and cylinder spacing on the flow and heat transfer behaviour are systematically studied. It is observed that both the Reynolds number and cylinder spacing influence the recirculatory vortex formation and growth in the region between the cylinders; in turn, the rates of heat transfer between the fluid and the staggered cylinders are affected. As the cylinder spacing decreases, the size and length of eddies reduce. For sufficiently small spacings, eddy formation is completely suppressed even at high Reynolds number. Pressure drop and Nusselt number predictions based on numerical study are in excellent agreement with available correlations. The study provides useful insight on the detailed flow and heat transfer phenomena for the case of a bank of staggered cylinders. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical convergence studies of the mixed finite element method for natural convection flow in a fluid-saturated porous medium

This paper describes a numerical approximation scheme for the natural convection (NC) flow in a fluid-saturated porous medium. Our formulation of the problem is based on the mixed finite element method (FEM). Using the so-called consistent splitting scheme, a second-order accuracy in time and in space is verified by the numerical calculation. The resulting flow patterns and heat transfer for different Rayleigh numbers, Darcy numbers and porosities are numerically studied by the proposed scheme.     

Interaction of thermal radiation with laminar natural convection from a horizontal cylinder in air

The heat transfer rates from a horizontal cylindrical surface of an internally heated tube under constant heat flux conditions are evaluated with the aid of integral analysis giving due consideration to both natural convection and thermal radiation to ambient medium of air. It is observed that non-isothermal conditions around the periphery of the tube arise due to the conjugate effects of the three modes of energy transmission viz., conduction, convection and radiation. The theoretical analysis is further validated with the experimental results and the coincidence is found to be very satisfactory.Die Wärmeübertragungsraten einer horizontalen zylindrischen Oberfläche eines innen erwärmten Rohres mit konstantem Wärmestrom sind mit Hilfe von Integralrechnungen berechnet worden, die sich auf die freie Konvektion und thermische Strahlung mit Luft als Umgebungsmedium beziehen. Es ist beobachtet worden, daß nicht-isotherme Bedingungen am Umfang des Rohres aus den drei Energieübertragungsarten Leitung, Konvektion und Strahlung entstehen. Die theoretische Berechnung wurde mit experimentellen Ergebnissen bestätigt und die Koinzidenz stellte sich als sehr zufriedenstellend heraus.     

Steady laminar flow over a downstream-facing step as a critical test case for the upwind Petrov-Galerkin finite element method

Galerkin finite element methods based on symmetric weighting functions give oscillations in the solution of steady Navier-Stokes equations when the Reynolds number is large. To overcome this difficulty Galerkin methods with asymmetric weighting functions can be used. In the present paper a critical test case is calculated with this so-called Petrov-Galerkin method. Comparison between calculations and experiments proofs that the accuracy of the method is good, even for a Reynolds number based on mesh size as high as two hundred.     

A finite element analysis of laminar unsteady flow of viscoelastic fluids through channels with non-uniform cross-sections

The effects of non-Newtonian behaviour of a fluid and unsteadiness on flow in a channel with non-uniform cross-section have been investigated. The rheological behaviour of the fluid is assumed to be described by the constitutive equation of a viscoelastic fluid obeying the Oldroyd-B model. The finite element method is used to analyse the flow. The novel features of the present method are the adoption of the velocity correction technique for the momentum equations and of the two-step explicit scheme for the extra stress equations. This approach makes the computational scheme simple in algorithmic structure, which therefore implies that the present technique is capable of handling large-scale problems. The scheme is completed by the introduction of balancing tensor diffusivity (wherever necessary) in the momentum equations. It is important to mention that the proper boundary condition for pressure (at the outlet) has been developed to solve the pressure Poisson equation, and then the results for velocity, pressure and extra stress fields have been computed for different values of the Weissenberg number, viscosity due to elasticity, etc. Finally, it is pertinent to point out that the present numerical scheme, along with the proper boundary condition for pressure developed here, demonstrates its versatility and suitability for analysing the unsteady flow of viscoelastic fluid through a channel with non-uniform cross-section.     

Homotopy analysis solutions for the asymmetric laminar flow in a porous channel with expanding or contracting walls

In this paper, the asymmetric laminar flow in a porous channel with expanding or contracting walls is investigated. The governing equations are reduced to ordinary ones by using suitable similar transformations. Homotopy analysis method (HAM) is employed to obtain the expres- sions for velocity fields. Graphs are sketched for values of parameters and associated dynamic characteristics, especially the expansion ratio, are analyzed in detail.     

Numerical investigation of flow and combined natural-forced convection from an isothermal square cylinder in cross flow

Unsteady flow and heat transfer from a horizontal isothermal square cylinder is studied numerically using a three-dimensional computational model to investigate the influence of buoyancy on the forced flow and heat transfer characteristics. The numerical model is based on a horizontal square cylinder subjected to laminar fluid flow in an unconfined channel. The governing equations in 3D form are solved using a fractional step method based on the finite difference discretization in addition to a Crank–Nicholson scheme employed to the convective and the viscous terms. Two working fluids–air (Pr = 0.7) and water (Pr = 7)–are considered, and the flow and heat transfer simulations were carried out for the Reynolds and Richardson numbers in the intervals 55 ≤ Re ≤ 250 and 0 ≤ Ri ≤ 2, respectively. The flow characteristics such as time-averaged drag/lift, rms drag/rms lift coefficients as well as Strouhal number were computed. The heat transfer from the cylinder is assessed by mean Nusselt number (and rms Nusselt number) over the total heated cylinder walls. As the buoyancy increases, the mass and the velocity of the fluid flowing underneath the cylinder increases. The fluid is injected into the near wake region with an upward motion which significantly alters the flow field in the downstream as well as upstream regions. The effects of Reynolds, Richardson and Prandtl numbers on the flow field and temperature distributions are discussed in detail. It is shown that the flow and heat transfer characteristics are influenced more for air than water. To fill the void in the literature, useful empirical correlations of practical importance are derived for pure forced and pure natural as well as mixed convection. The mixed convection correlations, in terms of the ratio of pure forced convection, are also developed, and their implications are discussed.     

The combined effects of inlet fluid flow and temperature nonuniformity in cross flow plate-fin compact heat exchanger using finite element method

An analysis of a crossflow plate-fin heat exchanger accouning for the combined effects of inlet fluid flow nonuniformity and temperature nonuniformity on both hot and cold fluid sides is carried out using a Finite Element Model. A mathematical equation is developed to generate different types of fluid flow/temperature maldistribution models considering the possible deviations in inlet fluid flow. Using these fluid flow maldistribution models, the exchanger effectiveness and its deteriorations due to flow/temperature nonuniformity are calculated for entire range of design and operating conditions. It was found that the performance deteriorations are quite significant in some typical applications due to inlet fluid flow/temperature nonuniformity.     

Stability of laminar flow of liquid in vertical layers with free convection

We give the results of experimental and theoretical investigations of the stability of a laminar flow of liquid in a vertical layer. The experimental investigations qualitatively confirm the theoretical solutions and indicate the existence of various kinds of instability.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 5, pp. 170–174, September–October, 1971.