A numerical study of momentum and forced convection heat transfer in a rectangular channel with wall-mounted waved baffles

Abstract

A numerical study has been carried out to examine the momentum and turbulent forced-convection characteristics for airflow through a constant temperature- surfaced rectangular duct with top and lower wallmounted waved baffles.Air is the working fluid with the flow rate in terms of Reynolds numbers ranging from 5,000 to 20,000.The governing equations were integrated by the finite volume method, in two-dimensions, employing the SIMPLE-algorithm with the SSTk-ω model to describe the turbulence. In particular, velocity and temperature fields, axial velocity profiles, local and average Nusselt numbers, and skin frictions were obtained at constant wall temperature condition along the top and bottom walls. The validation of the present code is done
by comparing the present results with the published ones. The results reveal  essentially, that the flow is characterized by strong deformations and large recirculation regions. In general, Nusselt number and friction loss increase with the Reynolds number.

Key words: Finite volume method - Turbulent flow - Forced convection - Waved baffles.