Numerical simulation of vortex structures and heat transfer behind a hill in a laminar boundary layer

The present study examines a three‐dimensional numerical simulation of vortex structures and heat transfer behind a hill mounted in a laminar boundary layer. A vortex pair is formed symmetrically in the separation bubble behind the hill, and a hairpin vortex is periodically shed in the wake. The hairpin vortex moves downstream with time, and the gradient of the head of the hairpin vortex increases. Further downstream, the hairpin vortex is deformed to an Ω‐shaped structure. In the growth process of the hairpin vortex, horn‐shaped secondary vortices grow near the wall. The dissipation rate of the temperature fluctuation around the hairpin vortex increases because the heated fluid near the wall is removed to the free stream by Q2 ejection. Heat transfer increases due to the legs of the hairpin vortex and secondary vortices. These vortices generate high turbulence in the flow field and also contribute to an increase in Reynolds shear stress and turbulent heat flux. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 37(7): 398–411, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20217     

Numerical simulation of asymmetrical flow and heat transfer behind a hill in shear flows

Three‐dimensional numerical simulations of asymmetrical flows and heat transfer around a hill in shear flows were performed. When shear velocity distributions are introduced at the inlet, a vortex pair is formed asymmetrically to the spanwise direction behind the hill. Further, an asymmetrical hairpin vortex is periodically generated downstream. The leg of the asymmetrical hairpin vortex on the high‐speed side collapses first. Further downstream, the asymmetrical hairpin vortex breaks down earlier than the symmetrical hairpin vortex, and streamwise vortices appear on the high‐speed side. These streamwise vortices increase the heat transfer downstream. In contrast, no hairpin vortex appears in the case of a strong shear velocity distribution, but instead a streamwise vortex appears. The heat transfer decreases downstream since the turbulence generated by streamwise vortices is weak. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20223     

Numerical analysis of the effect of boundary layer thickness on vortex structures and heat transfer in the wake behind a hill

This study presents a three‐dimensional numerical analysis of the effect of boundary layer thickness on vortex structures and heat transfer behind a hill mounted in a laminar boundary layer. When the thickness of the velocity boundary layer is comparable to the hill height, a hairpin vortex is formed symmetrically to the center of the spanwise direction in the wake. A secondary vortex is formed between the legs, and horn‐shaped secondary vortices appear under the concave parts of the hairpin vortex. When the boundary layer thickness increases, the legs and horn‐shaped secondary vortices move toward the center of the spanwise direction, and thus heat transport and heat transfer increase there. At this time, high‐turbulence areas generated locally move toward the center of the spanwise direction with an increase in the boundary layer thickness. With a further increase in the boundary layer thickness, steady streamwise vortices are formed downstream of the hill, but the heat transfer decreases. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20261     

Contribution of vortex structures and flow separation to local and overall pressure and heat transfer characteristics in an ultralightweight lattice material

Ultralightweight lattice-frame materials (LFMs) with open, periodic microstructures are attractive multifunctional systems that can perform structural, thermal, actuation, power storage and other functions [A.G. Evans, J.W. Hutchinson, M.F. Ashby, Multifunctionality of cellular metal systems, Prog. Mater. Sci. 43 (1999) 171–221]. This paper presents experimental and numerical studies of local fluid flow behaviour and its contribution to local and overall pressure and heat transfer characteristics of such a lattice material with tetrahedral unit cells. A single layer of the LFM with porosity of 0.938 is sandwiched between impermeable endwalls that receive uniform heat flux and the heat transfer is subjected to forced air convection.Experimental measurements with particle image velocity (PIV) and thermochromic liquid crystal (TLC), backed by computational fluid mechanics (CFD) simulations, revealed two dominant local flow features in the LFM. Distinctive vortex structures near the vertices where the LFM meets the endwalls and flow separation on the surface of LFM struts were observed. The vortex structures formed around the vertices include horseshoe vortices and arch-shaped vortices. The horseshoe vortex increases local heat transfer on the endwall region up to 180% more than that in regions where the least influence of the horseshoe vortex is present. The arch-shaped vortex behind the vertices creates regions of flow recirculation and reattachment, leading to relatively high heat transfer.The location of flow separation along the struts varies with the spanwise position due to the presence of vertices (or endwalls). The regions on the strut surface before flow separation contribute approximately 40% of the total heat transfer in the LFM. The delay of the flow separation leads to an increase in the overall heat transfer.Comparisons with foams and other heat dissipation media such as packed beds, louvered fins and microtruss materials suggest that the LFMs compete favourably with the best available heat dissipation media.     

Numerical simulation of separated flow transition and heat transfer around a two‐dimensional rib

Numerical simulations of separated flow transition and heat transfer around a two‐dimensional rib mounted in a laminar boundary layer were performed. The separated shear layer becomes unstable due to the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability and generates a two‐dimensional vortex. This vortex becomes three‐dimensional and collapses in the downstream part of the separation bubble. As a result, transition from laminar to turbulent flow occurs in the separated shear layer. Streamwise vortices exist downstream of the reattachment flow region. The low‐frequency flapping motion and transition of the separated shear layer are influenced by three‐dimensional dynamics upstream of the separation bubble. Large‐scale vortices around the reattachment flow region have substantial effects on heat transfer. Downstream of the reattachment point, the surface friction coefficient and Nusselt number are different from their profiles in the laminar boundary layer and approach the distributions seen in the turbulent boundary layer. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 36(8): 513–528, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20177     

Microscopic phenomena and macroscopic evaluation of heat transfer from plate fins/circular tube assembly using naphthalene sublimation technique

Flow and heat transfer in a plate fins/circular tube assembly is examined using naphthalene sublimation technique. The examined parameters are the gap (δ) to tube diameter (D) ratio δ/D, the Reynolds number Re_D and the tube location l/D for a single tube.A preliminary flow visualization shows large recirculating twin vortices and a weak downstream oscillatory streakline. The local heat/mass transfer coefficient is large at the leading edge of the plate and also in front of the tube. It is relatively small behind the tube and it approaches the fully developed asymptotic value far downstream. The high heat/mass transfer coefficient in front of the tube is considered to be due to the so-called horseshoe vortex. When the Reynolds number is as large as 2660, a smaller subsidiary horseshoe vortex is attached to the upstream of the main one. The positive effect of the horseshoe vortices is prominent when the tube is placed in the downstream region. In this case, the total heat/mass transfer rate increases up to 25%.     

Effects of incidence angle on endwall convective transport within a high-turning turbine rotor passage

Effects of incidence angle on the endwall convective transport within a high-turning turbine rotor passage have been investigated. Surface flow visualizations and heat/mass transfer measurements at off-design conditions are carried out at a fixed inlet Reynolds number of 2.78 × 10⁵ for the incidence angles of −10°, −5°, 0, 5°, and 10°. The result shows that the incidence angle has considerable influences on the endwall local transport phenomena and on the behaviors of various endwall vortices. In the negative incidence case, convective transport is less influenced by the leading edge horseshoe vortex and by the suction-side corner vortex along their loci but is increased along the pressure-side corner vortex. In the case of positive incidence, however, convective transport is augmented remarkably along the leading edge horseshoe vortex, and is much influenced by the suction-side corner vortex. Moreover, heat/mass transfer is enhanced significantly along the pressure-side leading edge corner vortex. Local endwall convective transport in the area other than the endwall vortex sites is influenced significantly by the cascade inlet-to-exit velocity ratio which depends strongly on the incidence angle.     

Flow structure and heat transfer induced by embedded vorticity

Several vortex generator shapes are used to increase heat and mass transfer in open and internal flows. Here we report a three-dimensional numerical study investigating the effects of longitudinal and transverse vortices on the heat and mass transfer mechanisms generated by rows of trapezoidal vortex generators. The turbulent macrostructures of these streamwise vortices appear greatly to enhance radial convective transfer. Due to Kelvin–Helmholtz instability, the shear layer shed from the tab’s edge becomes unstable and generates periodic transverse vortices that enhance fluid mixing and heat transfer. A global performance analysis of the high-efficiency vortex (HEV) heat exchanger designed to exploit these embedded vortices, shows that the HEV is very competitive with other multifunctional heat exchangers/reactors, especially due to its very low energy consumption.     

Spiral Coil Inserts for Heat Transfer Enhancement in a Parallel-Plate Channel

The flow fields and heat transfer characteristics in a parallel-plate channel with a transversely placed spiral coil insert were investigated by three-dimensional numerical simulation. The structure of multi-longitudinal-vortices (MLVs) induced by the spiral coil and the effects of MLVs on velocity and temperature fields were studied. The three-dimensional spiral coil induces a series of longitudinal vortices in the channel including leading longitudinal vortex, mainstream longitudinal vortices, near-wall longitudinal vortices, and rear central longitudinal vortex. Transport by the longitudinal vortices can increase the mass exchange between the boundary layer and the mainstream, which speeds up the heat migration from the channel walls and enhances the heat diffusion in the mainstream.     

Vortices and heat flux around a wall-mounted cube cooled simultaneously by a jet and a crossflow

Vortex morphology and heat transfer over a wall-mounted heated cube in an in-line array, cooled simultaneously by a crossflow and a normally impinging round jet, have been studied by conjugate large-eddy simulations. The interaction of the two streams and the cubes leads to the formation of complex vortical structures that govern heat removal from the cube surface. The strongest and the most evenly distributed cooling were found on the cube top and the front face. The heat flux on the side faces is lower in the zones where the flow separates, while it increases downstream where a fresh fluid from the crossflow flushes the faces. The separation on the back face of the cube creates an arch vortex, which dictates the heat transfer from that face. Despite its persistence and relative steadiness, significant nonuniformity of the temperature field has been detected on the rear face, characterised by the time meandering of hot spots. Vortex rings, created in the jet shear layer before its impact on the cube, break up upon impingement, leading to the re-establishing of the thermal boundary layer, and the consequent enhancement of heat transfer. The turbulent heat flux and its budget correlate well with the corresponding turbulent stress components.     

Streamwise Vortex Interaction with a Horseshoe Vortex

How control in turbomachinery is very difficult because of the complexity of its fully 3-D flow structure. The authors propose to introduce streamwise vortices into the control of internal flows. A simple configuration of vortices was investigated in order to better understand the flow control methods by means of streamwise vortices. The research presented here concerns streamwise vortex interaction with a horseshoe vortex. The effects of such an interaction are significantly dependent on the relative location of the streamwise vortex in respect to the leading edge of the profile. The streamwise vortex is induced by an air jet. The horseshoe vortex is generated by the leading edge of a symmetric profile. Such a configuration gives possibility to investigate the interaction of these two vortices alone. The presented analysis is based on numerical simulations by means of N-S compressible solver with a two-equation turbulence model.     

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL SEPARATED FLOW AND HEAT TRANSFER AROUND STAGGERED SURFACE-MOUNTED RECTANGULAR BLOCKS IN A CHANNEL

ABSTRACT

Numerical results simulating a three-dimensional laminar separated flow and heat transfer around staggered surface-mounted rectangular blocks in a plane channel are presented. Treated in the present study is a case of staggered three-row blocks. The finite-difference method is employed to solve the Navier-Stokes and energy Equations directly, and the resulting finite-difference Equations are solved with the SMAC method for Re = 100–500 and Pr = 0.7. The present numerical results are found to simulate well the visualization results such as horseshoe vortices and recirculating flow. The heat transfer coefficient greatly varies on the different side surfaces of blocks and also with Reynolds number.     

Flow visualization of annular and delta winlet vortex generators in fin-and-tube heat exchanger application

This study presents flow visualization and frictional results of enlarged fin-and-tube heat exchangers with and without the presence of vortex generators. Two types of vortex generators and a plain fin geometry were examined in this study. For plain fin geometry at Re=500, the horseshoe vortex generated by the tube row is not so pronounced, and the horseshoe vortex separates into two streams as it flows across the second row and consequently loses its vortical strength. This phenomenon may supports the “maximum phenomenon” in low Reynolds number region reported by previous studies. With the presence of annular vortex generator, the presence of a pair of longitudinal vortices formed behind the tube is seen. The strength of the counter-rotating vortices increases with the annular height and the strength of the longitudinal vortices is so strong that may swirl with the horseshoe vortices and other flow stream. For the same winlet height, the delta winlet shows more intensely vortical motion and flow unsteadiness than those of annular winlet. This eventually leads to a better mixing phenomenon. However, it is interesting to know that the corresponding pressure drops of the delta winlet are lower than those of annular winlet. Compared to the plain fin geometry, the penalty of additional pressure drops of the proposed vortex generators is relatively insensitive to change of Reynolds number.     

Flow visualization of wave-type vortex generators having inline fin-tube arrangement

This study presents visual observation of enlarged fin-and-tube heat exchangers with and without the presence of vortex generators. Three samples of fin-and-tube heat exchanger having inline arrangements are examined, including one plain fin and two wave-type vortex generators. For plain fin geometry at Re=500, the horseshoe vortex generated by the tube row is not so pronounced, and a very large secondary flow circulation is seen between the first and second row. This flow re-circulation phenomenon is almost disappeared with the presence of proposed vortex generators. The presence of vortex generators significantly increase the vortrical motions of the horseshoe vortices hitting on the tubes. A much better mixing characteristics is seen by introducing the vortex generators. The frictional penalty of the proposed vortex generators are about 25-55% higher than that of the plain fin geometry. The penalty of pressure drops of the proposed vortex generators relative to plain fin geometry is relatively insensitive to change of Reynolds number.     

Augmentation of Heat Transfer by Creation of Streamwise Longitudinal Vortices Using Vortex Generators

This paper summarizes the current state of the art related to improvement of the heat exchanger surfaces using streamwise longitudinal vortices. Primarily, the improvements related to fin-tube cross-flow heat exchangers and the plate-fin heat exchangers have been addressed. Protrusions in certain forms, such as delta wings or winglet pairs, act as vortex generators, which can enhance the rate of heat transfer from the heat-exchanger surfaces that may be flat or louvered. The strategically placed vortex generators create longitudinal vortices, which disrupt the growth of the thermal boundary layer, promote mixing between fluid layers, and hence lead to augmentation in heat transfer. The flow fields are dominated by swirling motion associated with modest pressure penalty. Heat transfer is augmented substantially for all the proposed configurations of the longitudinal vortex generators, such as delta wings, rectangular winglet pairs, and delta winglet pairs, with varying degree of pressure penalty. Both computational and experimental investigations on flow and heat transfer in the heat exchanger passages with built-in vortex generators are revisited and summarized.     

Enhancement of Heat Transfer Using Delta-Winglet Type Vortex Generators with a Common-Flow-up Arrangement

Simulations of a coolant air flowing in a heat exchanger with delta-winglet type vortex generators in common-flow-up configuration have been performed to unveil the salient heat transfer characteristics. The heat exchanger is approximated as a periodic rectangular channel with heated walls and a pair of built-in tubes near the inlet and outlet. The heat transfer characteristics of the heat exchangers with vortex generators near the inlet, outlet, and both inlet and outlet have been compared. The Navier-Stokes equations together with the energy equation are solved employing unstructured finite volume method. The simulations reveal a significant enhancement in heat transfer because of the strong swirling motion originating from the streamwise longitudinal vortices behind the pair of delta winglets. The spiraling flow entrains air into the core and causes intermixing of the fluid layers to disrupt the growth of the thermal boundary layer. A parametric study on the angles of attack identifies the conditions under which enhancement in heat transfer can lead to significant miniaturization of the heat exchangers. The analysis also reveals interesting flow structures behind the winglets and correlates them to the mechanism of heat transfer.     

NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF FLUID FLOW AND HEAT TRANSFER CHARACTERISTICS IN THREE-DIMENSIONAL PLATE FIN-AND-TUBE HEAT EXCHANGERS

This numerical study provides three-dimensional (3-D) time-dependent modeling of unsteady laminar flow and heat transfer over single- and multirow plate fin-and-tube heat exchangers. The complex nature of the flow field featuring a horseshoe vortex is investigated for both configurations. The time-dependent evolution of the horseshoe vortex mechanism on the forward part of the tube and its journey to the rear of the tube are studied to provide fundamental information on the local flow structure and the corresponding heat transfer characteristics. The effects of various governing parameters, such as fin spacing, Reynolds number, tube row number, and tube arrangement, on the heat transfer and flow characteristics are also studied for the Reynolds number range investigated. It is found that the local flow structure including formation and evolution of vortex systems and singular-point interactions correlates strongly with the heat transfer characteristics. The numerical results for the integral heat transfer parameters agree well with available experimental measurements.     

Influence of flow injection angle on a leading-edge horseshoe vortex

Junction flows that develop at the base of protruding obstructions occur in many applications. An unsteady horseshoe vortex is formed as a component of these junction flows, which increases the local heat transfer on the associated endwall. Augmenting this junction flow can be achieved through the injection of fluid upstream of the obstruction. This experimental study evaluated the effects of injection angle for a two-dimensional slot placed upstream of a vane leading-edge with four injection angles of 90°, 65°, 45°, and 30°. Results showed that high momentum injection increased the endwall heat transfer at each slot angle while low momentum injection resulted in a relatively lower augmentation of endwall heat transfer. A leading-edge vortex turning into the endwall was formed at the junction in the stagnation plane for high momentum injection at 90° and 65° while a leading-edge vortex turning away from the wall was formed for 45° and 30° injection. For low momentum injection, a vortex turning into the endwall was formed at all injection angles.