Convection Heat Transfer in Three-Dimensional Turbulent Separated/Reattached Flow

Abstract

The measurements and the simulation of convective heat transfer in separated flow have been a challenge to researchers for many years. Measurements have been limited to two-dimensional flow and simulations failed to predict accurately turbulent heat transfer in the separated and reattached flow region (prediction are higher than measurements by more than 50%). A coordinated experimental and numerical effort has been initiated under this grant for examining the momentum and thermal transport in three-dimensional separated and reattached flow in an effort to provide new measurements that can be used for benchmarking and for improving the simulation capabilities of 3-D convection in separated/reattached flow regime. High-resolution and non-invasive measurements techniques are developed and employed in this study to quantify the magnitude and the behavior of the three velocity components and the resulting convective heat transfer. In addition, simulation capabilities are developed and employed for improving the simulation of 3-D convective separated/reattached flow. Such basic measurements and simulation capabilities are needed for improving the design and performance evaluation of complex (3-D) heat exchanging equipment. Three-dimensional (3-D) convective air flow adjacent to backward-facing step in rectangular channel is selected for the experimental component of this study. This geometry is simple but it exhibitsmore » all the complexities that appear in any other separated/reattached flow, thus making the results generated in this study applicable to any other separated and reattached flow. Boundary conditions, inflow, outflow, and wall thermal treatment in this geometry can be well measured and controlled. The geometry can be constructed with optical access for non-intrusive measurements of the flow and thermal fields. A three-component laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV) is employed to measure simultaneously the three-velocity components and their turbulent fluctuations. Infrared thermography is utilized to measure the wall temperature and that information is used to determine the local convective heat transfer coefficient. FLUENT – CFD code is used as the platform in the simulation effort and User Defined Functions are developed for incorporating advanced turbulence models into this simulation code. Predictions of 3-D turbulent convection in separated flow, using the developed simulation capabilities under this grant, compared well with measured results. Results from the above research can be found in the seventeen refereed journal articles, and thirteen refereed publications and presentations in conference proceedings that have been published by the PI during the this grant period. The research effort is still going on and several publications are being prepared for reporting recent results.« less