ABSTRAKT

Computational fluid mechanics and heat transfer prediction are applied to study the three-dimensional turbulent flow and heat transfer in a rotating smooth tapered channel. Two channel orientations (90° and 135° from the rotation direction), three rotation numbers, Ro = 0, 0.14, and 0.28, and three inlet coolant-to-wall density ratios, 0.12, 0.20, and 0.40, are investigated for one Reynolds number value, 10,000. The local normalized Nusselt number values are reported for four walls: leading, trailing, top, and bottom walls. The results show considerable spanwise local Nusselt number variation across the leading and trailing walls as the rotation number increases. This causes flow reversal at the leading wall. For the top and bottom walls, Nusselt number variation is affected by the rotation angle. As the rotation angle changes from 90° to 135° the flow impinging the bottom wall results in higher Nusselt numbers compared to the top wall. The effect of varying channel cross section and hydraulic diameter (increasing by 19%) on the spanwise-averaged Nusselt number is unappreciable, when compared with experimental Nusselt number values for a rectangular channel.