Comparison between exact thermal boundary condition and harmonic mean conductivity condition at the solid-fluid interface for finite thickness shrouded non-isothermal fin array

A numerical study is made comparing the exact thermal boundary condition and a harmonic mean conductivity condition at the solid-fluid interface for a finite thickness shrouded non-isothermal fin array. Results highlight that there exists a significant deviation of pressure drop across the length of the fin for the exact thermal boundary condition, which is as high as 20% as compared to that obtained using the harmonic mean conductivity condition. The exact thermal boundary condition forecasts relatively more non-isothermal fin as compared to a harmonic mean conductivity condition. The greater the fin spacing the larger the non-isothermal behavior of the fin and it also depends upon Grashof number as well as inlet fluid velocity. The larger the Grashof number the greater is the non-isothermal behavior of fin. The greater the inlet velocity, the larger is the non-isothermal behavior of fin. Bulk fluid temperature is over predicted by as much as 13% by the harmonic mean conductivity condition for larger fin spacing with highest Grashof number coupled with larger velocity. This deviation is only 6% for smaller fin spacing. Overall Nusselt number is over predicted for the harmonic mean conductivity condition as compared to exact thermal boundary condition. This over prediction is limited to about 8%.