Experimental study of transition from laminar to turbulent flow in vertical narrow channel

Experimental investigation of flow and heat transfer characteristics of a vertical narrow channel with uniform heat flux condition are conducted to analysis the effect of wall heating on the laminar to turbulent transition. The friction factor in the heating condition is compared with that in the adiabatic condition and the results show that wall heating leads to the delay of laminar to turbulent transition. In addition, the heat transfer characteristic indicates that the critical Reynolds number at the point of laminar flow breakdown increases with the increase of fluid temperature difference, and the local Nusselt number at the point of laminar breakdown increases with the increase of the inlet Reynolds number. The analyses of the flow and heat transfer characteristics both indicate that the heating has a stabilizing effect on the water flow at present experimental scale.

► The effect of wall heating on the laminar to turbulent transition is experimentally studied.
► The flow characteristic demonstrates that heating leads to the delay of transition from laminar to turbulent regimes.
► The heat transfer characteristics also indicates that heating leads to the delay of flow regime transition.