Visualization of longitudinal vortex flow in an enhanced heat transfer tube

Longitudinal vortex flow was visualized in an enlarged DDIR tube (discrete double inclined ribs on the inner surface). The experiments were conducted in a water tunnel using dye injection. Two kinds of ribs with different widths were investigated. The visualizations showed counter rotating longitudinal vortex pairs formed by the discrete double inclined ribs. The vortex intensity increased with increasing Reynolds numbers while the length over which the vortices were observed along the flow direction decreased with increasing Reynolds numbers for Re = 1000–2000. The vortex intensity and vortex flow length were also strongly affected by the rib dimensions.