Numerical Investigation of Flow and Heat Transfer Characteristics in Rectangular Channels (AR=4:1) with Circular and Elliptical Pin Fin Arrays
Abstract
The objective of current study was to numerically investigate the flow and heat transfer characteristics in a stationary one pass rectangular channel (AR=4:1) with
circular and elliptical pin fin arrays. Two types of elliptical pin fins (a SEF and an N fin whose minor axis length is equal to the diameter of the circular fin) were
used. The analysis was performed with an array of six rows of staggered pin fins in the streamwise direction for Reynolds numbers (Re) of 10,000, 20,000, 30,000, 40,000
and 50,000. 3-D, steady simulations were performed using the low Reynolds number k-omega SST turbulence model in the FLUENT CFD code. The data predicted by the current numerical model showed favorable agreement with the experiments in the
validation study. It was observed that SEF array produces minimum pressure loss and the highest thermal performance. It was also observed that N fin array produces minimum hot spots and the highest channel averaged Nusselt number ratio values.
Subject
Pin finsHeat Transfer
Rectangular Channel
Numerical
Elliptical
Circular
Friction
Nusselt
Velocity
Turbine
Citation
Velichala, Abhishek (2011). Numerical Investigation of Flow and Heat Transfer Characteristics in Rectangular Channels (AR=4:1) with Circular and Elliptical Pin Fin Arrays. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /ETD -TAMU -2011 -05 -9517.