Non-intrusive investigation of flow and heat transfer characteristics of a channel with a built-in circular cylinder

Interferometry-based experimental investigation of heat transfer phenomena associated with a channel fitted with a circular cylinder has been reported. Experiments have been performed with water as the working fluid, and the range of Reynolds number considered is 75 <= Re <= 165. The circular cylinder, placed at the inlet section of the channel, provides a blockage ratio of 0.5. The experimental methodology has been benchmarked against the results of transient numerical simulations. In order to assess the performance of the channel fitted with a circular cylinder for possible heat transfer enhancement from the channel wall(s), experiments have also been performed on a plane channel (without a cylinder). The interferometry-based experiments clearly highlighted the influence of the built-in cylinder in generating the flow instabilities and alterations in the thermal boundary layer profile along the heated wall of the channel. The phenomenon of vortex shedding behind the cylinder was successfully captured. A gradual increase in the vortex shedding frequency was observed with increasing Reynolds number. Quantitative data in the form of two-dimensional temperature distributions revealed an increase in the strength of wall thermal gradients in the wake region of the cylinder due to the periodic shedding of the vortices. In turn, a clear enhancement in the wall heat transfer rates was observed for the case of the channel fitted with a cylinder vis-a-vis the plane channel. To the best of the knowledge of the authors, the work reported is one of the first attempts to provide the planar field experimental data for a channel configuration with a built-in circular cylinder using non-intrusive imaging techniques and has the potential to serve as one of the benchmark studies for validating the existing as well as future numerical studies in the related area. Published by AIP Publishing.