Forced Convection Flow in a Wavy Channel With a Linearly Increasing Waviness at the Entrance Region

Abstract

This research studies the fluid flow and heat transfer in a wavy channel with a linearly increasing waviness at the entrance region. The considered model consists of a channel formed by two wavy plates described by a sinusoidal profile and maintained at a uniform temperature. The finite element method is utilized to solve the problem. Reynolds numbers are considered in the range of 125<Re<1000 to avoid unsteady flow, and Pr=0.7. The global objective of this research is to reduce the pressure drop in the wavy channel due to the developing flow at the entrance region. The effect of the Reynolds number, length of the increasing waviness region, waviness of the wavy wall on the hydrodynamics, and thermal characteristics of the channel is investigated. The result indicates that the linearly increasing waviness at the entrance region significantly reduces the pressure drop in the channel on the other hand, the thermal characteristics of the wavy wall are nearly unaffected.