Turbulent flow and heat transfer enhancement of mixed convection over heated blocks in a channel

Abstract

PurposeTo investigate the heat transfer enhancement performed by installing a rectangular plate turbulator for internal flow modification induced by vortex shedding.Design/methodology/approachThe large eddy simulation (LES) and SIMPLE‐C method coupled with preconditioned conjugate gradient methods have been applied to the turbulent flow field and heat transfer enhancement of mixed convection in a block‐heated channel.FindingsProvides information about heat transfer performance indicating that heat transfer performance can be affected by various width‐to‐height ratio of turbulator and Grasehof numbers with a constant Reynolds number. The results show that the installation of turbulator in cross‐flow above an upstream block can effectively enhance the heat transfer performance by suitable width‐to‐height ratio of turbulator and Grasehof numbers.Research limitations/implicationsIt is limited to two‐dimensional mean flow for the turbulent vortex‐shedding flow past a long square cylinder.Practical implicationsA very useful source of information and favorable advice for people developing heat transfer enhancement for electronic devices.Originality/valueThe results of this study may be of interest to engineers attempting to develop thermal control of electronic devices and to researchers interested in the turbulent flow‐modification aspects of heat transfer enhancement of mixed convection in a vertical channel.