Numerical Study of the Endwall Effects on Water Single-Phase Pressure Drop Across a Circular Micro-Pin-Fin Array
This paper presents a numerical study of pressure drop associated with water liquid single-phase flow across an array of staggered micro-pin-fins having circular cross-section. The numerical simulations were validated against previously obtained experimental results using an array of staggered circular micro-pin-fins having the following dimensions: 180 micron diameter and 683 micron height. The longitudinal pitch and transverse pitch of the micro-pin-fins are equal to 399 microns. The effects of endwalls on pressure drop characteristics were then explored numerically. Six different micro-pin-fin height to diameter ratios were studied with seven different Reynolds numbers. All simulations were performed at room temperature (23°C). It was seen that for any given Reynolds number, as the pin height to diameter ratio increased, the pressure drop and resulting non-dimensional friction factor decreased.