Investigations on the flow and heat transfer behavior of fluids flowing through channels with small cross-sectional dimensions have indicated deviations in experimental results from theoretical solutions assuming regular surface geometry. Because the thermal behavior is expected to be influenced by the structure and true geometry of the surfaces, which become more significant as the channel sizes are reduced, a comparison of the experimental results with theoretical results using realistic surface geometry is desirable. In the present study, experiments using digital Mach–Zehnder interferometry has been performed in the developing and fully developed flow domains in water flowing though a mesochannel with hydraulic diameter of , for flow rates of 1.5, 3, and 4.5 lph and heat inputs of 20, 30, and 40 W. The results were compared with the analytical solutions, as well as with computational results incorporating measured surface profiles of the experimental channel. The Nusselt number values obtained from the computation and the experiments are 9 and 12% lower than the analytical solutions applying regular cross-sectional geometry. The results emphasize the need to base the analysis on domains with actual surface geometries, while making theoretical predictions and comparisons in the case of small-dimension channels.
Investigations on Forced Convection in a Mesochannel with Irregular Cross Section
Journal of Thermophysics and Heat Transfer ; 27 , 1 ; 70-79
2013-01-10
10 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
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