Numerical simulation of fluid flow and forced convection heat transfer from tandem circular cylinders using overset grid method

Abstract

Forced convection heat transfer from two and three isothermal circular cylinders in tandem arrangement is studied numerically. In addition, the flow field and the vortex shedding behavior in the wake of the cylinders are investigated. The governing equations consist of continuity, momentum and energy equations are solved for laminar unsteady flow regime. The numerical simulations are performed with a developed finite volume code using the overset grid method. A general orthogonal boundary fitted coordinate system is used for the grid generation. This simulation is performed for the Prandtl numbers of 0.7 and 7 at the Reynolds numbers of 100 and 200. The spacing ratio L/ D is set at 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 10. In order to analyze the heat transfer from isothermal cylinders, the mean and local Nusselt numbers and isotherm plots are presented and discussed for different values of the problem parameters. In addition, the mean and instantaneous drag and lift coefficients and Strouhal numbers are computed to elucidate the role of the Reynolds number and spacing ratio. Furthermore, two new correlations for the calculation of the mean Nusselt number, in terms of the spacing ratio and the Reynolds and Prandtl numbers, is proposed. In order to validate the solution, the obtained results are compared with available results in the published literature.