Modal Effects on the Local Heat Transfer Characteristics of a Vibrating Body
This is an experimental investigation of the effects of forced transverse vibrations on the local heat transfer characteristics of a heated, pinned-pinned beam. In particular, the response of a cylindrical beam near its first two natural frequencies, corresponding to the first two vibration modes, is considered. The results show that there is a strong spatial variation in the local Nusselt number and that these variations are closely related to the mode shape of the response. Because the heat transfer measurements were taken at the resonance frequencies, where the structural response was greatest, the measured Nusselt numbers provide an upper bound for the increased convection due to flexible body vibrations, i.e., in the absence of any rigid-body mode. The possibility of large-amplitude nonlinear vibrations are discussed (though they were not witnessed experimentally) in a theoretical framework. [S0022-1481(00)01702-3]