Numerical heat transfer study of turbulent square-duct flow through inline V-shaped discrete ribs

A numerical work has been conducted to examine turbulent periodic flow and heat transfer characteristics in a three dimensional square-duct with inline 60° V-shaped discrete thin ribs placed on two opposite heated walls. The isothermal-flux condition is applied only to the upper and lower duct walls while the two sidewalls are insulated, similar to internal passage cooling of gas turbine blades. The computations are based on the finite volume method with the SIMPLE algorithm for handling the pressure–velocity coupling. Air is the working fluid with the flow rate in terms of Reynolds numbers ranging from 10,000 to 25,000. The numerical result is validated with available square-rib measured data and found to agree well with measurement. The computation reveals that the ribbed duct flow is fully developed periodic flow and heat transfer profiles at about x/D = 7–11 downstream of the inlet. Effects of different rib height to duct diameter ratios, BR, on thermal characteristics for a periodic ribbed duct flow are investigated. It is found that a pair of counter-rotating vortices (P-vortex) caused by the rib can induce impingement/attachment flows on the walls leading to greater increase in heat transfer over the test duct. In addition, the rise of BR values leads to the increase in heat transfer and friction loss. The maximum thermal performance is around 1.8 for the rib with BR = 0.0725 where the heat transfer rate is about 4.0 times above the smooth duct at lower Reynolds number.     

Numerical investigation of turbulent heat transfer in channels with detached rib‐arrays

A numerical investigation is conducted to analyze the flow‐field and heat transfer characteristics in a rectangular passage of width‐to‐height ratio of 6:1 with detached ribs on one wall, where constant wall temperature condition is applied. The effect of detached‐rib geometry on heat transfer coefficient, friction factor, and thermal enhancement factor is investigated covering the range of the detached‐clearance ratios (c/a) of 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4, the Reynolds number based on the channel hydraulic diameter ranges from 8000 to 24,000. The numerical results show that the flow‐field, temperature pattern, local Nusselt number distribution, average Nusselt number, and friction factor are strongly dependent on the detached‐clearance ratios. The thermal enhancement factor (TEF) under the same pumping power constraint is calculated in order to examine the overall effect of the detached‐clearance ratio. For the present range investigated, the maximum TEF of 1.22 is achieved by the use of the ribs with c/a of 0.1 at Reynolds number of 8000. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/htj ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20357     

Performance assessment of turbular heat exchanger tubes containing rectangular-cut twisted tapes with alternate axes

Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology - This paper describes the numerical results of the heat transfer enhancement mechanism of tubes containing rectangular-cut twisted tapes with alternate...     

Analysis of turbulent heat transfer and fluid flow in channels with various ribbed internal surfaces

This paper presents results of a numerical investigation of heat transfer and flow pattern characteristics of a channel with repeated ribs on one broad wall. Numerical computations are performed for seven ribs placed on the bottom wall of a channel for Reynolds numbers ranging from 10,000 to 30,000. The newly modified ribs (the ones with convex pointing upstream/downstream rib, wedge pointing upstream/downstream rib, concave pointing upstream/downstream rib and also concave-concave rib as well as convex-concave rib), are proposed for simulation with prospect to reduce flow separation and extend reattachment area compared to the unmodified square rib. The numerical results are reported in forms of flow structure, temperature field, turbulent kinetic energy, Nusselt number, friction factor and thermal enhancement factor. The results indicate the rib with concave-concave surfaces efficiently suppresses flow separation bubble in the corner of the rib and induces large recirculation zone over those of the others, hence giving the highest Nusselt number and friction factor. On the other hand, the one with convex-concave surface provides the lowest friction factor with moderate Nusselt number. Due to the prominent effect of its low friction factor, the rib with convex-concave surface offers the highest thermal enhancement factor of 1.19.