Numerical and experimental study of turbulent heat transfer and fluid flow in longitudinal fin arrays

Heat transfer from an array of parallel longitudinal fins to a turbulent air stream passing through the interfin spaces has been investigated both analytically/numerically and experimentally. The fins were integrally attached to a heated base plate, while the fin tips were shrouded to avoid leakage. In the analytical/numerical work, a conjugate problem was solved which encompassed turbulent flow and heat transfer in the air stream and heat conduction in the fins and in the base plate. The turbulence model and computational scheme were verified by comparison with experiment. It was found that the local heat transfer coefficients varied along the fins and along the surface of the base plate, with the lowest values in the corners formed by the fin/base plate intersections and the fin/shroud intersections. The numerically determined fin efficiencies did not differ appreciably from those calculated from the conventional pure-conduction fin model. Average Nusselt numbers, evaluated from the experimental data in conjunction with the numerically determined fin efficiencies (for derating the fin surface area), agreed well with those for fully developed heat transfer in a uniformly heated circular tube.