NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF TURBULENT FLOW OVER TRANSVERSE RIBS

Abstract

Computational analysis of heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics of artificial roughness in the form of transverse ribs (relative roughness pitch, p/e=10) on a broad, heated wall of a rectangular duct has been carried out in the present work for turbulent flow (Reynolds number range 2800-21000, which is relevant to solar air heater). The computational results have been compared with the experimental results reported in the literature. The turbulence model k — ro was selected for comparing the predictions of different turbulence models with experimental results available in the literature. The 3D computational analysis is done for coarse, fine and very fine mesh in FLUENT. The total number of cells analyzed for very fine mesh is 12, 87,228. The results predict a significant enhancement of heat transfer in comparison to that for a smooth surface. There is a good