Aerothermal Characteristics of Solid and Slitted Pentagonal Rib Turbulators

Abstract

This work is an experimental study of detailed aerothermal characteristics inside a duct carrying an array of solid and permeable pentagonal ribs with a parallel and inclined slit, mounted on the bottom wall. The rib height-to-hydraulic diameter ratio, the rib pitch-to-height ratio, and the open area ratio fixed during experiments are 0.125%, 12%, and 25%, respectively. The heat transfer coefficient (HTC) distribution is mapped by using transient liquid crystal thermography (LCT), while the detailed flow measurements are performed by using particle image velocimetry (PIV). The primary focus of the study is to assess the influence of inter-rib region flow characteristics on the local heat transfer fields. The heat transfer and friction factor measurements are evaluated along with thermohydraulic performances at different Reynolds numbers, i.e., 26,160, 42,500, and 58,850. Performance indexes show that the pentagonal ribs with the inclined-slit are superior to other configurations from both perspective. Aerothermal features within inter-rib region were elucidated by analyzing the time-averaged streamlines, mean velocities, fluctuation statistics, vorticity, turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) budget terms, and local and spanwise-averaged Nusselt number as well as augmentation Nusselt numbers. Critical flow structures and coherent structures were identified, which illustrate about different flow dynamic processes. The flow emanating out of the inclined-slit pentagonal rib significantly affects the magnitude of streamwise velocity, fluctuation statistics, vorticity, and TKE budget terms at the downstream corner, whereas the dissipation term of TKE budget correlates well with the surface heat transfer distribution.