Transients in flow and local heat transfer due to a pressure wave in pipe flow

The effect of a pressure wave on the turbulent flow and heat transfer in a rectangular air flow channel has been experimentally studied for fast transients, occurring due to a sudden increase of the main flow by an injection of air through the wall. A fast response measuring technique using a hot film sensor for the heat flux, a hot wire for the velocities and a pressure transducer have been developed. It was found that in the initial part of the transient the heat transfer change is independent of the Reynolds number. For the second part the change in heat transfer depends on thermal boundary layer thickness and thus on the Reynolds number. Results have been compared with a simple numerical turbulent flow and heat transfer model. The main effect on the flow could be well predicted. For the heat transfer a deviation in the initial part of the transient heat transfer has been found. From the turbulence measurements it has been found that a pressure wave does not influence the absolute value of the local turbulent velocity fluctuations. They could be considered to be frozen.Nomenclature A surface area (m²) - D diameter (m) - h heat transfer coefficient (Wm^–2 K^–1) - p pressure drop (Pa) - P pressure (Pa) - Q heat flow (W) - R tube radius (m) - T bulk temperature (K) - T_s surface temperature (K) - t time (s) - u velocity (m/s) - V voltage (V) - y distance from wall (m) - viscosity (N s m^–2) - kinematic viscosity (m^–2 s^–1) - density (kg m^–3) - _w wall shear stress (N m^–2) - Nu Nusselt number - Re Reynolds number