A numerical investigation into thermo-fluid characteristics of pulsating jet impingement on a dimpled surface

Abstract

A two-dimensional axisymmetric numerical model is employed to study the flow and heat transfer attributes of the pulsating air jet impingement on a dimpled surface. The results are compared with the steady jet impingement. The results are examined at a fixed Reynolds number of 5000, over a Strouhal number range of 0.1–0.5, and pulsation amplitude of 15% and 25% for three different nozzle-to-surface separations (z/d = 2, 6, and 10). The pulsation amplitude of 15% has a minor effect on heat transfer from the dimpled surface. However, at 25% pulsation amplitude, significant improvements in the heat transfer rates are obtained in many combinations of jet Strouhal number and jet surface spacing. The value of the optimum Strouhal number provides conditions for the maximum heat transfer rate, which varied with nozzle-to-surface separation distances. Combinations of higher separations and lower Strouhal numbers (and vice versa) produced optimum heat transfer among the cases considered in the present study. The maximum improvement (17.41%) in the average heat transfer over the steady jet was found at z/d = 10 for pulsation at St = 0.1, while at z/d = 6, St = 0.2 provides the highest heat transfer rate. It is urged that the vortices formed in pulse jet close to the natural frequency of vortex formation provide a conducive environment for the vortex growth and their existence, significantly affecting the jet entrainment, mixing, and jet spread, which eventually play the decisive factor in determining the overall heat transfer rates on the dimpled surface.