Effect of Streamwise Vortex Strength on Heat Transfer Enhancement of a Flat Plate

Abstract

This paper studies the variation of the streamwise vortex circulation resulting from a delta wing vortex generator. A delta wing vortex generator is employed in the common flow down configuration, this generates an anti-clockwise vortex over the right wing. Two different vortex generators with angle of attack 15° and 30° were considered in this study for a range of Reynolds numbers from 750 to 1500. The average Nusselt number was observed to increase with increasing Reynolds number and angle of attack. The circulation around the vortex core was calculated at different streamwise locations behind the vortex generator. The circulation of the vortex was observed to decrease in the down-stream direction. For a given Reynolds number and angle of attack, circulation at all streamwise locations was averaged in order to compare it with the trends observed by the averaged Nusselt number. The variation in averaged Circulation was identical to the Nusselt number. The vortex center locations were used to plot the trajectories by applying a least squares second order polynomial fit to the data.