Coriolis and rotating buoyancy effect on detailed heat transfer distributions in a two-pass square channel roughened by 45° ribs at high rotation numbers

Heat transfer measurements from a rotating two-pass square channel with two opposite leading and trailing walls roughened by 45° parallel ribs arranged in the staggered manner are performed to examine the effects of Reynolds (Re), rotation (Ro) and buoyancy (Bu) numbers on local and area-averaged Nusselt numbers (Nu   and Nu¯). Full-field Nu distributions over the two rib-roughened leading and trailing walls are measured at the conditions of 4000 ⩽ Re ⩽ 16,000, 0 ⩽ Ro ⩽ 0.8 and 0.0015 ⩽ Bu ⩽ 0.93 (0.05 ⩽ Δρ/ρ ⩽ 0.1) using the infrared thermography which allows for the detailed examination of the Coriolis and rotating buoyancy effects on Nu distributions over the rotating ribbed surface. Selected heat transfer data in term of Nu   ratio between rotating and stationary levels illustrates the influences of rotation on local and area-averaged heat transfer performances. Area-averaged Nu¯ for the turn region and the inlet and outlet ribbed legs of the rotating two-pass channel are parametrically analyzed to devise a set of empirical heat transfer correlations that permits the evaluation of the interdependent and individual effects of Re, Ro and Bu   on Nu¯.