Direct numerical simulation of flow characteristics and heat transfer enhancement in a rib-dimpled cooling channel

The present study reports the numerical investigation on the flow characteristics and heat transfer enhancement of the rib-dimpled channels. Two geometric variables were considered: the rib angle, θ, and the length between the rib center and the dimple rim, l. Nine cases were investigated by combining three different rib angles with three different lengths. Direct numerical simulations were conducted with a Reynolds number of 2800. As θ and l changed, the flow characteristics of the rib-dimpled channel were altered, which lead to different characteristics in the flow mixing and heat transfer rate. The span-wise rotating flow and the up-wash counter rotating vortices played an important role in the augmentation of heat transfer rate. The rib-dimpled channel with l = 0.15 and θ = 70° showed the maximum increase of 32 % in the volume goodness factor, in comparison with the general dimpled channel.