Computations of incompressible fluid flow around a long square obstacle near a wall: laminar forced flow and thermal characteristics

Abstract

Computations of incompressible fluid flow and heat transfer around a square obstacle with a nearby adiabatic wall have been performed in a horizontal plane. The ranges of dimensionless control parameters considered are Prandtl number (Pr) = 10–100, Reynolds number (Re) = 1–150 and gap ratio (G) = 0.25–1. The steady-flow regime is observed up to Re = 121 for G = 0.5, and beyond this Re, time-periodic regime is observed. The shift to a time-periodic regime from a steady regime occurred at greater Re than that for an unconfined square obstacle. With increasing Pr, increase in average Nusselt number values is recorded for all Re and G studied. The heat transfer augmentation is approximately 1332% at Re = 150 (Pr = 100, G = 0.25) with regard to the corresponding values at Re = 1. Lastly, a correlation for j h factor is determined for the preceded conditions.