Convective Heat Transfer of Cubic Fin Arrays in a Narrow Channel

Abstract

The present study explores the heat transfer enhancement induced by arrays of cubic fins. The fin element is either a cube or a diamond in shape. The array configurations studied include both in-line and staggered arrays of seven rows and five columns. Both cubic arrays have the same geometric parameters, i.e., H/D = 1, S/D = X/D = 2.5, which are similar to those of earlier studies on circular pin-fin arrays. The present results indicate that the cube element in either array always yields the highest heat transfer, followed by diamond and circular pin-fin. Arrays with diamond-shaped elements generally cause the greater pressure loss than those with either cubes or pin fins. For a given element shape, a staggered array generally produces higher heat transfer enhancement and pressure loss than the corresponding inline array. Cubic arrays can be viable alternatives for pedestal cooling near a blade trailing edge.