Newtonian hydro-thermal fluid flow phenomena through a sudden expansion channel with or without baffles.

This work aims to study the different characteristics of Newtonian fluid flow and heat transfer through a 1:3 sudden expansion channel with or without plane baffles using the finite volume method. The flow is assumed viscous, incompressible, steady, and laminar. The different characteristics of hydro-thermal fluid flow phenomena have been studied for Re ε [0.1 - 200] to demonstrate the influence of the presence of baffles. The profiles of velocity, pressure, skin friction coefficient, friction factor, average Nusselt number, and pumping power have been examined for both the cases of the presence and absence of baffles. It has been observed that the hydro-thermal characteristics become more pronounced with the increase in the number of baffles. In the case of three baffles of equal length, at Re = 200 it is calculated that if the thickness of the baffles is same and equal to 10% of the length, then the value of Nuav becomes approximately 1.2 times of that in the absence of baffle. For the same value of Re, it has been found that for the presence of one baffle of length equal to the width of the inlet section of the channel and of thickness 10% of the same, the value of Nuav becomes 1.11 times of that in the absence of baffle, while in the case of three baffles of equal length and of equal thickness like the above mentioned case of one baffle, the value of Nuav becomes 1.25 times of that in absence of baffle. It has also been revealed that the enhancement of thermal phenomena increases with the increase in the baffle’s height. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]