Validation of the thermal equilibrium assumption in the transient conjugated forced convection channel flow

 The validity of the local thermal equilibrium assumption in the transient conjugated forced convection channel flow is investigated analytically. Closed form expressions are presented for the temperatures of the fluid and solid domains and for the criterion which insure the validity of the local thermal equilibrium assumption. It is found that three dimensionless parameters control the local thermal equilibrium assumption. These parameters are the Biot number Bi, the dimensionless channel length ξ_max and the solid to fluid total thermal capacity ratio C _R. The qualitative and quantitative aspects of the effects of these three parameters on the channel thermalization time are investigated. Received on 9 August 2000