Three-Dimensional Convection Flow Adjacent to Inclined Backward-Facing Step

Authors

Yitung Chen, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
J. H. Nie, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Hsuan-Tsung Hsieh, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
L. J. SunFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-2006

Publication Title

International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer

Volume

49

Issue

25-26

First page number:

4795

Last page number:

4803

Abstract

Simulations of three-dimensional laminar forced convection adjacent to inclined backward-facing step in rectangular duct are presented to examine effects of step inclination on flow and heat transfer distributions. The step height is maintained as constant while its inclination angle is changed from 15° to 90°. The inlet flow is hydrodynamically steady and fully developed with uniform temperature. The bottom wall is heated with constant heat flux, while other walls are maintained as being thermally adiabatic. Velocity, temperature, Nusselt number, and friction coefficient distributions are presented. The “jet-like” flow and its impingement do not appear as the inclination angle of backward-facing step is small (α = 15°). At the center width of the duct and close to the stepped wall, the location where the streamwise velocity component is zero changes from a saddle point to a nodal point as the step inclination angle decreases. The downwash adjacent to the sidewall becomes stronger as the step inclination angle increases. The maximum Nusselt number on the stepped wall is located near the sidewall for α ⩾ 30° and it appears near the center width of duct for small step inclination angle (α = 15°). The friction coefficient inside the primary recirculation region increases with the increase of the step inclination angle. Downstream of the primary recirculation region, increase of the friction coefficient becomes slower as the step inclination angle increases.

Keywords

Heat – Convection; Heat – Transmission; Laminar flow

Disciplines

Fluid Dynamics | Heat Transfer, Combustion | Mechanical Engineering

Language

English

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the item. Publisher policy does not allow archiving the final published version. If a post-print (author's peer-reviewed manuscript) is allowed and available, or publisher policy changes, the item will be deposited.

Repository Citation

Chen, Y., Nie, J. H., Hsieh, H., Sun, L. J. (2006). Three-Dimensional Convection Flow Adjacent to Inclined Backward-Facing Step. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 49(25-26), 4795-4803.