Heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics in rectangular channels with elliptic pin fins

Abstract

Experiments have been carried out to investigate the heat transfer and flow resistance characteristics in rectangular ducts with staggered arrays of short elliptic pin fins in a crossflow of air. By employing the heat/mass transfer analogy and the naphthalene sublimation technique, the mean heat transfer coefficients on pin fins and on the endwall (base plate) of the channel have been presented, respectively. The total mean heat transfer coefficients of pin fin channels are calculated and the resistance coefficients are also investigated. The experimental results show that the heat transfer of a channel with elliptic pin fins is somewhat higher than that with circular pin fins while the resistance of the former is much lower than that of the latter in the Reynolds number range from 1000 to 10 000.