Alterations to coherent flow structures and heat transfer due to pulsations in an impinging air-jet

Abstract

An investigation was carried out to study the effect of flow pulsation on the characteristics of a planar air jet impinging normally on a heated surface. Such information was further utilized to determine the influence of flow characteristics in the plane of impingement on Nusselt number distribution. Time-resolved system properties were investigated with modern instrumentation that allowed instantaneous heat transfer and flow velocity measurements to be performed simultaneously. Based on good coherence function estimates between the signals, heat transfer measurements were used in return to infer flow dynamics near the impingement surface. Experiments were performed for steady and pulsating jets at jet Reynolds numbers of 1 000, 5 500, and 11 000, pulse frequencies up to 82 Hz (corresponding to Strouhal numbers below 0.13), and pulse amplitude at the nozzle exit up to 50 % of the mean flow velocity. Special techniques commonly used for periodically disturbed flow fields elucidated the dynamics of the pulse and associated coherent flow structures. Results indicated the parametric conditions for which alterations are expected in time-averaged heat transfer from the surface. Engineering applications include cooling of electronic packages and heat transfer to gas turbine blades.