Effect of topographical pattern on vortex shedding and heat transfer phenomena in power-law fluid flow around a rotating cylinder

Abstract

The present numerical investigation studies the momentum and heat transfer phenomena from a heated rotating patterned cylinder in the vortex shedding regime. In particular, the effect of surface patterns ( ω , δ ), fluid behavior ( 0.4 ≤ n ≤ 1.6 ), cylinder rotation speed ( 0.5 ≤ α ≤ 2 ), and Prandtl number ( 1 ≤ Pr ≤ 100 ) at Reynolds number 100 on the force coefficients and Nusselt number are studied. Vorticity and isotherm profiles demonstrate the flow dynamics and heat transfer characteristics. According to the findings of this study, the formation of the vortex (including its size, shape, and number of vortices) and the time period during which the vortex shedding pattern repeats itself demonstrates a dependency on the shape of the cylinder, fluid behavior, and rotating speed. It has been noted that a significant decrease in the frequency of vortex shedding occurs on adding topographical patterns. Additionally, it has been noticed that on increasing rotational speed, vortex shedding can be suppressed for all fluid behaviors. Numerical simulation results reveal that the average drag coefficient ( C ¯ D ) for a rotating patterned cylinder decreases with increasing rotational speed ( α ), and it further reduces on increase in pattern frequency ( ω ) and amplitude ( δ ) compared to a smooth circular cylinder. The shear-thinning fluid behavior helps to dissipate the heat from the cylinder to the surrounding fluid. Conversely, shear-thickening fluid behavior exhibits the opposite trend.