Convective heat transfer from suddenly expanding annular pipe flows are numerically investigated within the steady laminar flow regime. A parametric study is performed to reveal the influence of the annular diameter ratio, k, the Prandtl number, Pr, and the Reynolds number, Re, over the following range of parameters: k = {0, 0.5, 0.7}, Pr = {0.7, 1, 7, 100}, and Re = {25, 50, 100}. Heat transfer enhancement downstream of the expansion plane is only observed for Pr > 1. Peak wall-heat-transfer-rates always appear downstream of the flow reattachment point, in the case of suddenly expanding round pipe flows, i.e. k = 0. However, for suddenly expanding annular pipe flows, i.e., k = 0.5 and 0.7, peak wall-heat-transfer-rates always appear upstream of the flow reattachment point. The observed heat transfer augmentation is more dramatic for suddenly expanding annular flows, in comparison with the one observed for suddenly expanding pipe flows. For a given annular diameter ratio and Reynolds number, increasing the Prandtl number, always results in higher wall-heat-transfer-rates downstream the expansion plane.
Perspective on the Response of Turbulent Pipe Flows to Strong Perturbations
