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Article
Publication date: 5 February 2018

Ranganayakulu Chennu

The purpose of this study is to find the thermo-hydraulic performances of compact heat exchangers (CHE’s), which are strongly depending upon the prediction of performance of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to find the thermo-hydraulic performances of compact heat exchangers (CHE’s), which are strongly depending upon the prediction of performance of various types of heat transfer surfaces such as offset strip fins, wavy fins, rectangular fins, triangular fins, triangular and rectangular perforated fins in terms of Colburn “j” and Fanning friction “f” factors.

Design/methodology/approach

Numerical methods play a major role for analysis of compact plate-fin heat exchangers, which are cost-effective and fast. This paper presents the on-going research and work carried out earlier for single-phase steady-state heat transfer and pressure drop analysis on CHE passages and fins. An analysis of a cross-flow plate-fin compact heat exchanger, accounting for the individual effects of two-dimensional longitudinal heat conduction through the exchanger wall, inlet fluid flow maldistribution and inlet temperature non-uniformity are carried out using a Finite Element Method (FEM).

Findings

The performance deterioration of high-efficiency cross-flow plate-fin compact heat exchangers have been reviewed with the combined effects of wall longitudinal heat conduction and inlet fluid flow/temperature non-uniformity using a dedicated FEM analysis. It is found that the performance deterioration is quite significant in some typical applications due to the effects of wall longitudinal heat conduction and inlet fluid flow non-uniformity on cross-flow plate-fin heat exchangers. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) program FLUENT has been used to predict the design data in terms of “j” and “f” factors for plate-fin heat exchanger fins. The suitable design data are generated using CFD analysis covering the laminar, transition and turbulent flow regimes for various types of fins.

Originality/value

The correlations for the friction factor “f” and Colburn factor “j” have been found to be good. The correlations can be used by the heat exchanger designers and can reduce the number of tests and modification of the prototype to a minimum for similar applications and types of fins.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 28 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 November 2011

Ranganayakulu Chennu and Pallavi Paturu

In aerospace applications, due to the severe limitations on the weight and space envelope, it is mandatory to use high performance compact heat exchangers (CHEs) for enhancing the…

Abstract

Purpose

In aerospace applications, due to the severe limitations on the weight and space envelope, it is mandatory to use high performance compact heat exchangers (CHEs) for enhancing the heat transfer rate. The most popularly used ones in CHEs are the plain fins, offset strip fins (OSFs), louvered fins and wavy fins. Amongst these fin types, wavy and offset fins assume a lot of importance due to their enhanced thermo‐hydraulic performance. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of geometrical fin parameters, in addition to Reynolds number, on the thermo‐hydraulic performance of OSFs.

Design/methodology/approach

A computational fluid dynamics approach is used to conduct a number of numerical experiments for determination of thermo‐hydraulic performance of OSFs considering the various geometrical parameters, which are generally used in the aerospace industry. These investigations include the study of flow pattern for laminar, transition and turbulent regions. Studies are conducted with different fin geometries and comparisons are made with available data in open literature. Finally, the generalized correlations are developed for OSFs taking all geometrical parameters into account for the entire range of operations of the aerospace industry covering laminar, transition and turbulent regions. In addition, the effects of various geometrical parameters are presented as parametric studies.

Findings

Thermo‐hydraulic design of CHEs is strongly dependent upon the predicted/measured dimensionless performance (Colburn factor “j” and Fanning friction “f” vs Reynolds number Re) of heat transfer surfaces. Several types of OSFs used in the compact plate‐fin heat exchangers are analyzed numerically.

Research limitations/implications

The present numerical analysis is carried out for “air” media and hence these results may not be accurate for other fluids with large variations of Prandtl numbers.

Practical implications

In open literature, these fins are generally evaluated as a function of Reynolds number experimentally, which are expensive. However, their performance will also depend to some extent on geometrical parameters such as fin thickness, fin spacing, offset fin length and fin height.

Originality/value

This numerical estimation can reduce the number of tests/experiments to a minimum for similar applications.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 21 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 March 2016

Ranganayakulu Chennu

The purpose of this paper is to carry out numerical modeling of single-blow transient analysis using FLUENT porous media model for estimation of heat transfer and pressure drop…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to carry out numerical modeling of single-blow transient analysis using FLUENT porous media model for estimation of heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of offset and wavy fins.

Design/methodology/approach

A computational fluid dynamics program FLUENT has been used to predict the design data in terms of j and f factors for plate-fin heat exchanger wavy and offset strip fins, which are widely used in aerospace applications.

Findings

The suitable design data in terms of Colburn j and Fanning friction f factors is generated and presented correlations for wavy fins covering the laminar, transition and turbulent flow regimes.

Originality/value

The correlations for the friction factor f and Colburn factor j have been found to be good by comparing with other references. The correlations can be used by the heat exchanger designers and can reduce the number of tests and modification of the prototype to a minimum for similar applications and types of fins.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 26 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 November 2011

Manish Singh, Kumar Dhanalakshmi and Jaideep Mathur

Air connectivity network is an important part of the overall connectivity network of any country. This becomes even more crucial for the interior regions, which have no access to…

608

Abstract

Purpose

Air connectivity network is an important part of the overall connectivity network of any country. This becomes even more crucial for the interior regions, which have no access to sea routes and have inadequate road and rail connectivity. In India there is uniform distribution of airports throughout the country but only a few of them are currently used because of poor infrastructure availability at these airports. Any aircraft operating from these airports, having minimal infrastructure, need to have efficient high‐lift systems for short takeoff and landing ability as one of the key requirements. The purpose of this paper is look at the performance of a new high‐lift airfoil configuration for application to a general transport aircraft.

Design/methodology/approach

The present study deals with two‐dimensional analyses of a high‐lift system for general transport aircraft. The JUMBO2D, a multi‐block structured viscous code has been used to make preliminary analysis of the proposed high‐lift system. The configuration consists of three elements, namely, the main airfoil with nose droop, a vane and a flap.

Findings

In the present work the code has been revalidated by computing for NLF (1) 0416 airfoil (clean) and NACA 1410 airfoil with double‐slotted flap. The computed results compare very well with the experimental data. The proposed high‐lift configuration of general transport aircraft has then been analyzed in detail for both takeoff and landing conditions with and without nose droop. The effect of gap between main element and vane on the aerodynamic performance has also been investigated.

Originality/value

This computational study looks at the performance of a new high‐lift airfoil configuration for application to a general transport aircraft.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 21 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 November 2011

Srinivasa Ramanujam, R. Chandrasekar and Balaji Chakravarthy

The purpose of this paper is to develop an algorithm, using PCA‐based neural network, to retrieve the vertical rainfall structure in a precipitating atmosphere. The algorithm is…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop an algorithm, using PCA‐based neural network, to retrieve the vertical rainfall structure in a precipitating atmosphere. The algorithm is powered by a rigorous solution to the plane parallel radiative transfer equation for the atmosphere with thermodynamically consistent vertical profiles of humidity, temperature and cloud structures, together with “measured” vertical profiles of the rain structure derived from a radar.

Design/methodology/approach

The raining atmosphere is considered to be a plane parallel, radiatively participating medium. The atmospheric thermodynamic profiles such as pressure, temperature and relative humidity along with wind speed at sea surface and cloud parameters corresponding to Nargis, a category 4 tropical cyclone that made its landfall on May 2, 2008 at the Republic of Myanmar, are obtained by solving the flux form of Euler's equations in three‐dimensional form. The state‐of‐the‐art community software Weather Research and Forecasting has been used for solving the set of equations. The three‐dimensional rain profiles for the same cyclone at the same instant of time are obtained from National Aeronautics and Space Administration's space borne Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission's precipitation radar over collocated pixels. An in‐house Micro‐Tropiques code is used to perform radiative transfer simulations for frequencies corresponding to a typical space borne radiometer, and hence to generate the database which is later used for training the neural network. The back propagation‐based neural network is optimized with reduced number of parameters using principal component analysis (PCA).

Findings

The results show that neural network is capable of retrieving the vertical rainfall structure with a correlation coefficient of over 0.99. Further, reducing the ill‐posedness in retrieving 56 parameters from just nine measurements using PCA has improved the root mean square error in the retrievals at reduced computational time.

Originality/value

The paper shows that combining numerically generated atmospheric profiles together with radar measurements to serve as input to a radiative transfer model brings in the much‐required synergy between numerical weather prediction, radar measurements and radiative transfer. This strategy can be gainfully used in satellite meteorology. Using principal components to reduce the ill‐posedness, thereby increasing the robustness in retrieving vertical rain structure, has been attempted for the first time. A well‐trained network can be used as one possible option for an operational algorithm for the proposed Indian climate research satellite Megha‐Tropiques, due to be launched in early 2011.

Article
Publication date: 1 November 2011

Rajesh Sahu and B.S.V. Patnaik

The purpose of this paper is to achieve high‐performance aerofoils that enable delayed stall conditions and achieve high lift to drag ratios.

1042

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to achieve high‐performance aerofoils that enable delayed stall conditions and achieve high lift to drag ratios.

Design/methodology/approach

The unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier‐Stokes equations are employed in conjunction with a shear stress transport (κ‐ω) turbulence model. A control equation is designed and implemented to determine the temporal response of the actuator. A rotating element, in the form of an actuator disc, is embedded on the leading edge of NACA 0012 aerofoil, to inject momentum into the wake region. The actuator disc is rotated at different angular speeds, for angles of attack (α) between 00 and 240.

Findings

Phenomena such as flow separation, wake vortices, delayed stall, wake control, etc. are numerically investigated by means of streamlines, streaklines, isobars, etc. Streamwise and cross‐stream forces on the aerofoil are obtained. The influence of momentum injection parameter (ξ) on the fluid flow patterns, and hence on the forces acting on the streamlined body are determined. A synchronization‐based coupling scheme is designed and implemented to achieve annihilation of wake vortices. A delayed stall angle resulted with an attendant increase in maximum lift coefficient. Due to delay and/or prevention of separation, drag coefficient is also reduced considerably, resulting in a high‐performance lifting surface.

Research limitations/implications

The practicality of momentum injection principle requires both wide ranging and intensive further studies to move forward beyond the proof of concept stage.

Practical implications

Determination of forces and moments on an aerofoil is of vital interest in aero‐dynamic design. Perhaps, runways of the future can be shorter and/or more pay load can be carried by an aircraft, for the same stall speed.

Originality/value

The paper describes how a synchronization‐based coupling scheme is designed and implemented along with the RANS solver. Furthermore, it is tested to verify the dynamic adaptability of the wake vortex annihilation for NACA 0012 aerofoils.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 21 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 November 2011

R.S. Sudheesh and N. Siva Prasad

The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of trailing liquid nitrogen (LN2) heat sink on arc welding of mild steel plates. The effect on temperature field, stress and…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of trailing liquid nitrogen (LN2) heat sink on arc welding of mild steel plates. The effect on temperature field, stress and distortions are studied using experimental and numerical methods.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology consists of experimental and numerical methods. The temperature measured at a point near the arc is used to estimate the cooling capacity of the heat sink using inverse heat transfer (IHT) method. The estimated cooling flux is applied to the finite element model to study the stress and distortions using LN2 heat sink. The stresses are measured using X‐ray diffraction technique and the distortions using dial gauges.

Findings

IHT method has been employed in estimating the cooling capacity of the LN2 jet. This has been applied to welding to study the effect on weld induced stresses and distortions. The method can be extended to calculate the heat removal rate in various manufacturing processes where cooling is employed.

Research limitations/implications

The lack of temperature dependent material properties resulted in deviation of stresses between analytical results and experiment values.

Originality/value

IHT method developed for heat removal capacity of trailing heat sink is a contribution. The estimated heat flux shows good agreement in analytical and experimental temperature values. These temperatures have been extended to calculate stresses and out of plane distortions in welding and there is a reasonable agreement between finite element analysis and experimental results.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 21 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 November 2011

Prodyut Chakraborty and Pradip Dutta

The purpose of this paper is to present a new numerical approach for modeling the multi‐phase flow during an alloy solidification process. In many solidification processes…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a new numerical approach for modeling the multi‐phase flow during an alloy solidification process. In many solidification processes, advection of solid may have a dramatic effect on bulk convection field as well as on the solid front growth and hence on the macro‐segregation pattern. In the present work, a numerical model is developed to simulate directional solidification in presence of melt convection as well as solid advection in the form of sedimentation. A 2D cavity filled with hyper‐eutectic aqueous ammonium chloride solution (25 wt.% of ammonium chloride) being chilled from one of the side walls has been chosen as the model problem for the numerical simulation.

Design/methodology/approach

A fixed grid volume averaging technique has been used for solving mass, momentum, energy, and species equation while taking into account the solid phase advection and local re‐melting. Two different criteria have been identified for the solid particles in the mushy zone to be mobile. These two criteria are represented by a critical solid fraction, and a critical velocity. Based on these two criteria, the mushy zone has been subdivided into two different regions namely, an immobile coherent zone consisting of packed equiaxed crystals and a mobile non‐coherent zone where the solid crystals are able to move.

Findings

The numerical results are compared with corresponding experimental observations.

Originality/value

The solid advection velocity and source terms dealing with solid velocity have been calculated using an explicit scheme, whereas the main conservation equations are solved using an implicit scheme.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 21 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 November 2011

Rhodri Bevan, P. Nithiarasu, Igor Sazonov, Raoul van Loon, Heyman Luckraz, Michael Collins and Andrew Garnham

The purpose of this paper is to numerically study blood flow through a subject‐specific carotid artery with a moderately severe stenosis, also to thoroughly analyse the wall shear…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to numerically study blood flow through a subject‐specific carotid artery with a moderately severe stenosis, also to thoroughly analyse the wall shear stress (WSS), oscillatory shear index (OSI) and WSS angular deviation (WSSAD). One of the important aspects of this study is the investigation on the influence of the extensions attached to the domain outlets.

Design/methodology/approach

The segmentation of the carotid artery is carried out using a deformable model based on a level set method. A geometric potential force (GPF) is employed to deform the level set to obtain the carotid artery geometry. The initial surface meshing is generated using an advanced marching cubes (MC) method, before improving the quality of the surface mesh via a number of mesh cosmetic steps. The volume mesh generation has two parts. In the first part, a quasi‐structured, boundary layer mesh is generated in the vicinity of the geometry walls. The second part of the meshing involves unstructured tetrahedral meshing of the inner part of the geometry. After the meshing stage, the flow boundary conditions are generated by numerically solving the Helmholtz equation in both space and time. Finally, the explicit characteristic‐based split (CBS) method is employed in a parallel environment to produce a detailed analysis of wall quantities.

Findings

In general, WSS is very high in the vicinity of the carotid artery apex and in the proximity of the stenosis. From the results obtained, it is clear that the influence of outlet domain extension is marginal. While the peak instantaneous WSS differs by a maximum of 5.7 per cent, the time‐averaged WSS difference due to extended domain is only 1.3 per cent. Two other derived parameters are also examined in the paper, the oscillating shear index and the WSSAD. Both these quantities also display minor or negligible differences due to domain extension.

Originality/value

It has been perceived that domain extension is essential to avoid wrong application of boundary conditions. The results obtained, however, conclusively show that the outlet domain extension has only a moderate influence on WSS. Thus, outlet extension to the domains may not be essential for arterial blood flows. It is also observed that the dramatic values of peak WSS obtained near the stenosis is the result of high resolution mesh along with boundary layers used in this study. Both the outcomes represent the originality of this paper.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 21 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 September 2018

Jyothiprakash K.H., Krishnegowda Y.T., Krishna Venkataram and K.N. Seetharamu

Heat exchangers working in cryogenic temperature ranges are strongly affected by heat ingression from the ambient. This paper aims to investigate the effect of ambient…

Abstract

Purpose

Heat exchangers working in cryogenic temperature ranges are strongly affected by heat ingression from the ambient. This paper aims to investigate the effect of ambient heat-in-leak on the performance of a three-fluid cross-flow cryogenic heat exchanger.

Design/methodology/approach

The governing equations are derived for a three-fluid cross-flow cryogenic heat exchanger based on the conservation of energy principle. For given fluid inlet temperatures, the governing equations are solved using the finite element method to obtain exit temperatures of the three-fluid exchanger. The performance of the heat exchanger is determined using effectiveness-number of transfer units (e-NTU) method. In the present analysis, the amount of ambient heat-in-leak to the heat exchanger is accounted by two parameters Ht and Hb. The variation of the heat exchanger effectiveness due to ambient heat-in-leak is analyzed for various non-dimensional parameters defined to study the heat exchanger performance.

Findings

The effect of ambient heat in leak to the heat exchanger from the surrounding is to increase the dimensionless exit mean temperature of all three fluids. An increase in heat in leak parameter (Ht = Hb) value from 0 to 0.1 reduces hot fluid effectiveness by 32 per cent for an NTU value of 10.

Originality Value

The effect of heat-in-leak on a three-fluid cross-flow cryogenic heat exchanger is significant, but so far, no investigations are carried out. The results establish the efficacy of the method and throw light on important considerations involved in the design of such heat exchangers.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 28 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

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