Numerical simulation of the turbulent air flow in the narrow channel with a heated wall and a spherical dimple placed on it for vortex heat transfer enhancement depending on the dimple depth

Abstract

Numerical study is made of heat transfer enhancement in the narrow channel with insulated walls in air steady flow around a heated spherical dimple, when its relative depth is varied from 0 to 0.26 (in terms of spot diameter) at a defined Reynolds number 4×104 based on bulk velocity and dimple spot diameter. The applicability of multiblock computational technologies for solution of Reynolds and energy equations with the implication of an implicit factorized finite-volume algorithm and overlapping different-scale structured grids of different topology, as well as the verification of the shear stress transfer model (SST model) modified with regard to the streamline curvature within the framework of Leschziner–Rodi–Isaev’s approach is assessed from the comparison of numerical predictions obtained by different SSTM versions. Flow regimes in a spherical dimple, as its depth is increased, are classified on the basis of the analysis of change in the jet–vortex flow structure in the dimple and its wake in the channel. In what follows, special attention is paid to asymmetric flow around a dimple with the greatest vortex heat transfer enhancement.