Numerical analysis of heat transfer and fluid flow structures of jet impingement on a flat plate with different shapes of roughness elements

Abstract

Jet impingement is a heat transfer technique utilized in different applications in industry. It is used for cooling the turbine blade and the combustor wall because of its high cooling rate. The heat transfer (HT) and flow structure of a circular air-impinging jet over a flat target plate with a circular row of 48 roughness elements are numerically investigated using renormalization group k–ε turbulence model. Different shapes of roughness elements, namely cylindrical roughness elements (CREs), droplet roughness elements (DREs), and hemispherical roughness elements (HREs), are examined. The effects of Reynolds number changed from 7,000 to 35,000, and the roughness elements location relative to jet diameter ( s / d ) of 1.5, 2, 2.5, and 3 at a constant jet-to-target plate distance ( H / d ) of 2 are studied. Temperature distribution, local Nusselt number ( Nu ), average Nusselt number (Nuavg ), average Nusselt number ratio (Nuavg,r ), velocity distribution, turbulence kinetic energy, streamline contours, and static pressure ( p ) over the roughness elements are evaluated and discussed. The results showed that the existence of roughness elements has a significant effect on the thermal and hydraulic characteristics. The Nuavg,r for the CREs, DREs, and HREs is up to 1.61, 2.02, and 1.2, respectively. All roughness element shapes increase the flow velocity in the narrow area between the elements and increase the wetted area. CREs augment the HT rates by increasing the turbulence intensity, while DREs reduce the drag force effects.