Numerical Analysis of Transitional Characteristics of Flow and Heat Transfer in Wavy Channels

The effects of sinusoidal wavy channel plate spacing, phase shift and Reynolds number(Re) on heat transfer and flow characteristics have been numerically investigated. The calculations are carried out on periodic unit channels with uniform wall temperature for air (Pr = 0.696) over Re range of 2000 ≤ Re ≤ 10000. The relative thermal hydraulic performance enhancement is evaluated. Simulation results show that streamlines distortion degree determines flow and heat transfer feature. The maximum Nusselt number (Nu) value is gotten on 0° phase shift channel with maximum plate spacing, and the minimum Nu value is on the 180° phase channel with the same plate spacing. The minimum friction factor(f) value is obtained in 180° phase shift channel with minimum plate spacing, and the maximum f value is gotten in the same phase channel with the minimum plate spacing. The 0° phase channel with the minimum spacing channel has the best performance in all channels.