Numerical Simulation of Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow Characteristics of Triangular Corrugated Wavy Channel

Abstract

The present numerical simulation was performed with the objective to study the fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics of a corrugated wavy channel and compare its thermal performance with that of a straight channel with the same geometrical parameters. Both the considered channel had rectangular cross section, and one of them had triangular corrugations with a corrugation angle of 21.8°. The flow was assumed to be laminar through the channel with Reynolds number (Re) varying from 500 to 1500, and the analysis was performed under steady state and constant heat flux (10 kW/m2) conditions. For quantitatively analyzing the heat transfer enhancement rate, Nusselt number (Nu) was estimated along the top front corrugated line (TFCL) and it was found that Nu values increased with increasing Re. Also, the triangular corrugated channel was found to outperform the straight rectangular channel with regard to its comparatively high Nu values which increased by 47.8%. The increased Nu values upon incorporation of corrugations were thought to be due to the formation of recirculation zones and high-intensity swirl flow near the vicinity of corrugations. The only analyzed disadvantage of such a channel was found to be its rise in pressure loss value with increasing Re.