Heat transfer in square duct fitted diagonally with angle-finned tape—Part 2: Numerical study

A numerical work has been conducted to examine turbulent flow and heat transfer characteristics in a three-dimensional isothermal-fluxed square-duct fitted diagonally with 30°-angle finned tapes. The computations are based on the finite volume method with the SIMPLE algorithm implemented. The air flow and heat transfer characteristics in the duct are presented for Reynolds number (Re) in a range of 4000 to 20,000. In the current study, a straight tape with 30°-angled fins mounted repeatedly on both sides is inserted diagonally into the test duct to generate a pair of longitudinal counter-vortices in assisting chaotic flow mixing in the duct including vortex-induced impingement (VI) effect. Effects of fin blockage ratio (BR = b/H) and pitch ratio (PR = L/H) on heat transfer and pressure drop behaviors in the duct are investigated and the results of the finned tape insert are compared with available measurements. The computation reveals that predicted results from the finned tape insert are in good agreement with measured data. The study indicates that the vortex flow can help to induce impingement/reattachment flows (VI effect) on the duct walls leading to drastic increase in the heat transfer rate over the duct. The rise of the BR and the reduction of the PR results in the increase in Nusselt number and friction factor values. The maximum thermal performance is found to be 1.95 for using the finned tape at BR = 0.2 and PR = 1 whereas the Nusselt number ratio is about 4.5 at lower Re.