LOW REYNOLDS NUMBER FORCED CONVECTION IN MICRO WIRE SCREENS AT ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE AND LOW PRESSURES

Very low Reynolds number forced-convection heat transfer of air flow through microscale wire screens with equivalent channel diameters of 34.34 and 93.75 (mu)m (surface area density 67,400 and 32,300 m^2/m^3) was measured using resistance thermometry, in which the surface temperature was detected through the measurement of electric resistance of the screens. The dependency of the Nusselt number on the Reynolds number, screen porosity, and Knudsen number was investigated at Reynolds numbers ranging from 0.03 to 5.7. The results show that the screen porosity has great influence on the heat convection and the Nusselt number is higher in the case of higher porosity. When the Reynolds number increases from 0.03 to 3, the Nusselt number increases by two orders of magnitude, and the growth rate gradually slows down. In the very low Reynolds number region, the j factor has a maximum value. In the test region, the influence of the Knudsen number on heat convection is small.