Turbulent Flow In Rectangular Channel Research Articles

Experimental Study of Heat Transfer and Pressure Loss in Channels with Miniature V Rib-Dimple Hybrid Structure

In order to increase the thermal efficiency, the gas turbines are designed to operate at higher temperature, which requires highly efficient cooling structures for turbine blades. The dimples and ribs are effective surface structures to enhance the convective heat transfer in the gas turbine blade internal cooling. In the present study, a novel hybrid cooling structure with miniature V-shaped ribs and dimples is presented, and the heat transfer and pressure loss characteristics are obtained experimentally. The heat transfer performance of the rib–dimple structures, which include three different rib height-to-hydraulic diameter ratios of 0.017, 0.029 and 0.044 and one dimple configuration with the dimple depth-to-diameter ratio of 0.2, are studied by using the transient liquid crystal thermography technique for turbulent flow in rectangular channels within the Reynolds number range from 10,000 to 60,000. It is found that the miniature V-shaped ribs arranged upstream the dimples can significantly improve the heat transfer performance of the dimples, resulting in a more uniform heat transfer distribution on the surface. The V rib-dimple hybrid structure in the channel shows much higher heat transfer enhancement than the counterparts with only the dimples in the channels.

Spatially-resolved heat transfer characteristics in channels with pin fin and pin fin-dimple arrays

A comparative study has been conducted to investigate the spatially-resolved heat transfer characteristics of air turbulent flow in rectangular channels with pin fin and pin fin-dimple arrays. A combined method of experiments and numerical computation was adopted to obtain the spatially-resolved Nusselt numbers on the endwall surface of the pin fin and pin fin-dimple channels. Compared with the pin fin channel, the pin fin-dimple channel shows distinctive local heat transfer characteristics on the endwall beneath the main flow and the wake flow region. Due to the presence of the dimples in the pin fin arrays, extra strong vortex flows are generated near the wall beneath the main flow region downstream the dimples, which distinctively increase the turbulent mixing there and enhance the heat transfer rates; however the turbulent mixing in the wake of the pin fins is reduced appreciably, which leads to decreased heat transfer rates in the wake especially at relatively low Reynolds number. Overall, the dimples in the pin fin arrays increase not only the averaged heat transfer coefficient, but also the heat transfer area on the endwall.

Analytical solutions for transverse distributions of stream-wise velocity in turbulent flow in rectangular channel with partial vegetation

The theory of poroelasticity is introduced to study the hydraulic properties of the steady uniform turbulent flow in a partially vegetated rectangular channel. Plants are assumed as immovable media. The resistance caused by vegetation is expressed by the theory of poroelasticity. Considering the influence of a secondary flow, the momentum equation can be simplified. The momentum equation is nondimensionalized to obtain a smooth solution for the lateral distribution of the longitudinal velocity. To verify the model, an acoustic Doppler velocimeter (ADV) is used to measure the velocity field in a rectangular open channel partially with emergent artificial rigid vegetation. Comparisons between the measured data and the computed results show that the method can predict the transverse distributions of stream-wise velocities in turbulent flows in a rectangular channel with partial vegetation.

Numerical research of turbulent heat transfer in rectangular channels in ocean environment

Because of the effects of periodic ocean waves, there are many differences between the heat transfer characteristics of turbulent flow in ocean environment from that of land-based systems. The turbulent flow in rectangular channels in ocean environment is investigated theoretically with CFD code FLUENT. The effects of rolling motion consist of two parts, the first part is the axial additional force which can change the flowing velocity and the other part is the radial additional force. In ocean environment, the turbulent heat transfer is dominated by the axial additional force. The effect of radial additional force is very limited. The effect of length–width ratio on the oscillating amplitude of Nusselt number is also not significant. The average Nusselt number and its oscillating amplitude are in linear relation with the average Reynolds number. The oscillating amplitude of Nusselt number is in direct ratio with the fluctuation-velocity Reynolds number.

Numerical analysis of flowing characteristics of turbulent flow in rectangular channels in ocean environment

Because of the periodic effects of ocean waves, there are great discrepancies between the operational characteristics of nuclear power systems in ocean environment and that of land-based nuclear power systems. In some special operational status, like natural circulation, the additional forces due to ocean environment may impose so great disturbance on the coolant flow that theatres the safety operation of the systems. In the present paper, the turbulent flow in rectangular channels in ocean environments is investigated theoretically with CFD code FLUENT. The effects of several parameters on turbulent flow are analyzed. The effects of rolling motion includes two parts, the first part is the additional force parallel to flowing direction, which can affect on the pressure drop of the flow and change the flowing velocity, and the other part is the additional force perpendicular to flowing direction. In ocean environments, the flowing characteristics of turbulent flow are dominated by the additional force parallel to flowing direction. The effect of additional force perpendicular to flowing direction is very limited. In rolling and heaving motions, if the flowing velocity is the same, the flowing characteristics of turbulent flow are nearly the same, too. The bigger the Reynolds number is, the more serious the oscillation of turbulent kinetic energy and frictional resistance coefficient is, and the more the oscillation of turbulent flow is. The relationship between average frictional resistance coefficient and velocity oscillating amplitude is quadratic. And the oscillating amplitude of frictional resistance coefficient is in direct ratio with velocity oscillating amplitude.

On some aspects of fully-developed turbulent flow in rectangular channels

For fully-developed turbulent flow in straight channels of non-circular cross-section, there exists a transverse mean flow superimposed upon the axial mean flow. This transverse flow, commonly known as secondary flow, interacts with the axial mean flow and turbulence structure in a complex manner. In this paper several heretofore unexplored aspects of this type of secondary flow are discussed on the basis of results of an extensive experimental programme which was conducted for steady, incompressible, fully-developed turbulent air flow in both square and rectangular channels. Specifically, the following aspects are examined: (a) the Reynolds-number effect on secondary flow, (b) the directional characteristics of local wall shear stress, (c) the orientation of Reynolds-stress principal planes in a plane normal to the axial flow direction, and (d) the Reynolds equation along a secondary-flow streamline.Within the Reynolds-number range of the investigation, the results indicate that secondary-flow velocities, when non-dimensionalized with either the bulk velocity or the axial mean-flow velocity at the channel centreline, decrease for an increase in Reynolds number. Also, the greatest skewness of local wall shear-stress vectors is shown to occur in the near vicinity of corners where secondary flow is maximum. In addition, it is shown that in planes normal to the axial flow direction, traces of Reynolds stress principal planes are not tangent and normal to lines of constant axial mean-flow velocity. This behaviour is in contrast to that for less complicated turbulent flows, for example, two-dimensional channel flow or circular-pipe flow where such traces are always tangent and normal to lines of constant axial mean-flow velocity in accordance with symmetry considerations. Finally, through experimental evaluation of terms in a momentum balance along a typical secondary-flow streamline, it is shown that secondary flow is the result of small differences in magnitude of opposing forces exerted by the Reynolds stresses and static pressure gradients in planes normal to the axial flow direction.