Numerical investigation of natural convection heat transfer for panel type radiator mounted with longitudinal vortex generators

The heat dissipation performance of a panel type radiator attached with rectangular winglets on the air-side was numerically investigated. The natural convection heat transfer of the oil and air were concerned. The numerical results showed that the application of the rectangular winglets can obviously increase the heat dissipation of the panel type radiator. In the computational range of the present work, the total heat transfer coefficient is increased by 23.6-32.0% and the optimal condition is l = 2 mm, N = 10 and α = 15°. The rectangular winglet generates vortices that swirl down toward the radiator wall and disturb the boundary layer growth. Hence the heat transfer is enhanced.