Numerical Study of Turbulent Periodic Flow and Heat Transfer in a Square Channel with Different Ribs

Abstract

A numerical investigation has been carried out to examine turbulent flow and heat transfer characteristics in a three-dimensional ribbed square channels. Fluent 6.3 CFD code has been used. The governing equations are discretized by the second order upwind differencing scheme, decoupling with the SIMPLE (semi-implicit method for pressure linked equations) algorithm and are solved using a finite volume approach. The fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics are presented for the Reynolds numbers based on the channel hydraulic diameter ranging from 104 to 4 ´ 104. The effects of rib shape and orientation on heat transfer and pressure drop in the channel are investigated for six different rib configurations. Rib arrays of 45˚ inclined and 45˚ V-shaped are mounted in inline and staggered arrangements on the lower and upper walls of the channel. In addition, the performance of these ribs is also compared with the 90˚ transverse ribs.