Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
Abstract
An experimental and numerical study of free convection heat transfer from a channel consisting of a vertical sinusoidal wavy surface and a vertical flat plate has been carried out. The vertical wavy surface was maintained at a constant temperature, while the flat plate is adiabatic. A Mach-Zehnder Interferometer was used to determine the local heat transfer coefficients of sinusoidal wavy surface. FLUENT code was used for numerical simulation. The numerical results are in good agreement with experimental data. The amplitude-wavelength ratio, , in this investigation is kept constant at .The effects of Rayleigh number and wall spacing are investigated as well. Experiments were carried out for eight different Rayleigh numbers and thirteen different wall spacing. Results indicate that the frequency of the local heat transfer rate is the same as that of the wavy surface. The average heat transfer coefficient increases as the Rayleigh number, increases. For each Rayleigh number there is an optimum wall spacing where the heat transfer rate from the wavy sinusoidal surface reaches its maximum value. This optimum wall spacing depends on Rayleigh number and decreases with increasing Rayleigh number.
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