Effect of Reynolds number, Strouhal number and amplitude of oscillation on pulsating flow characteristics through a circular pipe

Abstract

The problem of pulsating flow through a circular pipe was analyzed numerically in the laminar flow region with the flow at the pipe inlet consisting of a fixed part and a pulsating component varying sinusoidally in time. The pipe wall was kept at an uniform temperature. The solution of two dimensional Navier-Stokes equations was obtained using Ansys Fluent software code and user defined function. The effect of Reynolds number, Strouhal number, and amplitude ratio is studied for 200 ≤ Re ≤ 2000, at 2 ≤ St ≤ 20 and 0.1 ≤ A/D ≤ 1. It is noticed that the large amplitude ratio combined with flow reversal occurring in a small zone near the wall promote augmentation of convective heat transfer. Small hike in Nusselt number is noticed with increase in Re and St; however, it changes substantially with hike in amplitude ratio.