Heat transfer augmentation in a wedge-ribbed channel using winglet vortex generators

Experimental investigations have been carried out to study the effect of combined wedge ribs and winglet type vortex generators (WVGs) on heat transfer and friction loss behaviors for turbulent airflow through a constant heat flux channel. To create a reverse flow in the channel, two types of wedge (right-triangle) ribs are introduced: wedge ribs pointing downstream and pointing upstream. The arrangements of both rib types placed inside the opposite channel walls are in-line and staggered arrays. To generate longitudinal vortex flows through the tested section, two pairs of the WVGs with the attack angle of 60° are mounted on the test channel entrance. The test channel has an aspect ratio, AR = 10 and height, H = 30 mm with a rib height, e/H = 0.2 and rib pitch, P/H = 1.33. The flow rate in terms of Reynolds numbers is based on the inlet hydraulic diameter of the channel ranging from 5000 to 22,000. The presence of the combined ribs and the WVGs shows the significant increase in heat transfer rate and friction loss over the smooth channel. The Nusselt number and friction factor values obtained from combined the ribs and the WVGs are found to be much higher than those from the ribs/WVGs alone. In conjunction with the WVGs, the in-line wedge pointing downstream provides the highest increase in both the heat transfer rate and the friction factor while the staggered wedge pointing upstream yields the best thermal performance.