Non-intrusive measurements of transitional and turbulent convective heat transfer in a rectangular microchannel

Abstract

The thermal-transport characteristics of transitional and turbulent flow through smooth- and rough-wall rectangular microchannels (Dh = 600 μm) under constant-heat-flux conditions at three of the four walls were investigated by performing non-intrusive and spatially resolved measurements of fluid temperature via two-color fluorescent thermometry. These measurements, along with bulk pressure-drop measurements, were performed over the Reynolds-number range . The pressure-drop results revealed the onset of transition above for the smooth-wall case, consistent with the onset of transition at the macroscale. However, with increasing surface roughness, deviation from laminar behavior was noted at progressively lower Re which indicates that is a function of roughness. Mean temperature profiles calculated from data sets acquired in the transitional regime for the smooth- and rough-wall cases illustrated deviation from fully developed laminar behavior for . Nevertheless, these profiles still suggest similarities in the transitional pathway of the thermal-transport behavior for the smooth and rough cases save for a relative shift due to the onset of transition at lower Re with increasing surface roughness. Estimates of the bulk Nusselt number indicated enhancement in thermal transport over the smooth-wall case with increasing surface roughness in both the transitional and turbulent regimes, though the smooth-wall data agreed well with macroscale predictions over the range of turbulent Re considered. While the shift in the transitional pathway of the thermal transport behavior toward lower Re accounts for a portion of this enhancement, an increase in turbulent convection with increasing surface roughness might also contribute in this regard.