Convective heat transfer from a cylinder in a resonant acoustic field

Abstract

Experimental measurements of heat transfer rates from a cylinder in a zero-mean oscillatory flow will be presented. The cylinder is representative of a heat exchanger tube, while the oscillatory flow is typical of the strong acoustic field present in a thermoacoustic engine. A steady-state measurement technique has been used to determine the heat transfer coefficients. The effect of different flow regimes on the heat transfer behavior is considered. Correlations for the Nusselt number have been developed in terms of suitable governing dimensionless parameters for the different flow regimes. The goal is to develop a basic knowledge base of working correlations for the Nusselt number which would cover the wide operating parameter space of thermoacoustic engines. [Work supported by the Naval Postgraduate School.]