Chapter 7: External Forced Convection

Yoav Peles
Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Objectives
When you finish studying this chapter, you should be able to: Distinguish between internal and external flow, Develop an intuitive understanding of friction drag and pressure drag, and evaluate the average drag and convection coefficients in external flow, Evaluate the drag and heat transfer associated with flow over a flat plate for both laminar and turbulent flow, Calculate the drag force exerted on cylinders during cross flow, and the average heat transfer coefficient, and Determine the pressure drop and the average heat transfer coefficient associated with flow across a tube bank for both inline and staggered configurations.

Drag and Heat Transfer in External flow

Fluid flow over solid bodies is responsible for numerous physical phenomena such as
drag force
automobiles power lines

lift force
airplane wings

cooling of metal or plastic sheets.

Free-stream velocity the velocity of the fluid relative to an immersed solid body sufficiently far from the body. The fluid velocity ranges from zero at the surface (the noslip condition) to the free-stream value away from the surface.

Friction and Pressure Drag

The force a flowing fluid exerts on a body in the flow direction is called drag. Drag is compose of:
pressure drag, friction drag (skin friction drag).

The drag force FD depends on the

density of the fluid, the upstream velocity V, and the size, shape, and orientation of the body.

 The dimensionless drag coefficient CD is defined as

CD FD = = 2 1 2 V A

(7-1)

At low Reynolds numbers, most drag is due to friction drag. The friction drag is also proportional to the surface area. The pressure drag is proportional to the frontal area and to the difference between the pressures acting on the front and back of the immersed body.

 The pressure drag is usually dominant for blunt bodies and negligible for streamlined bodies. When a fluid separates from a body, it forms a separated region between the body and the fluid stream. The larger the separated region, the larger the pressure drag.

Heat Transfer
The phenomena that affect drag force also affect heat transfer. The local drag and convection coefficients vary along the surface as a result of the changes in the velocity boundary layers in the flow direction. The average friction and convection coefficients for the entire surface can be determined by
1 CD = CD , x dx L0 1 h = hx dx L0
L L

(7-7)

(7-8)

Parallel Flow Over Flat Plates

Consider the parallel flow of a fluid over a flat plate of length L in the flow direction. The Reynolds number at a distance x from the leading edge of a flat plate is expressed as
Re x = Vx

= Vx

(7-10)

 In engineering analysis, a generally accepted value for the critical Reynolds number is

Vxcr Recr = = 5 105

(7-11)

The actual value of the engineering critical Reynolds number may vary somewhat from 105 to 3 x106.

Local Friction Coefficient

The boundary layer thickness and the local friction coefficient at location x over a flat plate
Laminar:
4.91x v , x = 1/ 2 Re x Re x < 5 105 0.664 C f , x = 1/ 2 Re x 0.38 x v , x = 1/ 5 Re x 5 105 Re x 107 0.059 C f ,x = Re1/ 5 x

(7-12a,b)

Turbulent:

(7-13a,b)

Average Friction Coefficient

The average friction coefficient
Laminar: Turbulent:
1.33 C f = 1/ 2 Re L 0.074 Cf = Re1/ 5 L Re L < 5 105 5 105 Re L 107

(7-14) (7-15)

When laminar and turbulent flows are significant

L xcr 1 C f = C f , x laminar dx + C f , x turbulent dx (7-16) L 0 xcr Recr = 5 105

0.074 1742 Cf = 1/ 5 Re L Re L

5 105 Re L 107 (7-17)

Heat Transfer Coefficient

The local Nusselt number at location x over a flat plate
Laminar:
Nu x = 0.332 Re1/ 2 Pr1/ 3
0.8 x 1/ 3

Pr > 0.6 0.6 Pr 60 5 10 Re x 10

5 7

(7-19) (7-20)

Turbulent: Nu x = 0.0296 Re Pr

hx is infinite at the leading edge (x=0) and decreases by a factor of x0.5 in the flow direction.

Average Nusset Number

The average Nusselt number
Laminar: Turbulent:
Nu = 0.664 Re0.5 Pr1/ 3 L Nu = 0.037 Re Pr
0.8 L 1/ 3

Re < 5 105 0.6 Pr 60 5 10 Re x 10

5 7

(7-21) (7-22)

When laminar and turbulent flows are significant

L xcr 1 h = hx , laminar dx + hx , turbulent dx L 0 xcr Recr = 5 105

(7-23)

Nu = 0.037 Re 871 Pr
0.8 L

13

(7-24)

Uniform Heat Flux

When a flat plate is subjected to uniform heat flux instead of uniform temperature, the local Nusselt number is given by
Laminar:
Nu x = 0.453Re0.5 Pr1/ 3 L 0.6 Pr 60 5 105 Re x 107 (7-32)

(7-31)

Turbulent: Nu x = 0.0308 Re Pr
0.8 x

1/ 3

These relations give values that are 36 percent higher for laminar flow and 4 percent higher for turbulent flow relative to the isothermal plate case.

Flow Across Cylinders and Spheres

Flow across cylinders and spheres is frequently encountered in many heat transfer systems
shell-and-tube heat exchanger, Pin fin heat sinks for electronic cooling.

The characteristic length for a circular cylinder or sphere is taken to be the external diameter D. The critical Reynolds number for flow across a circular cylinder or sphere is about Recr=2 x 105. Cross-flow over a cylinder exhibits complex flow patterns depending on the Reynolds number.

 At very low upstream velocities (Re1), the fluid completely wraps around the cylinder. At higher velocities the boundary layer detaches from the surface, forming a separation region behind the cylinder. Flow in the wake region is characterized by periodic vortex formation and low pressures. The nature of the flow across a cylinder or sphere strongly affects the total drag coefficient CD. At low Reynolds numbers (Re<10) friction drag dominate. At high Reynolds numbers (Re>5000) pressure drag dominate. At intermediate Reynolds numbers both pressure and friction drag are significant.

Average CD for circular cylinder and sphere

Re 1 creeping flow Re 10 separation starts Re 90 vortex shedding starts. 103 < Re < 105
in the boundary layer flow is laminar in the separated region flow is highly turbulent

105 < Re < 106 turbulent flow

Effect of Surface Roughness

Surface roughness, in general, increases the drag coefficient in turbulent flow. This is especially the case for streamlined bodies. For blunt bodies such as a circular cylinder or sphere, however, an increase in the surface roughness may actually decrease the drag coefficient. This is done by tripping the boundary layer into turbulence at a lower Reynolds number, causing the fluid to close in behind the body, narrowing the wake and reducing pressure drag considerably.

Heat Transfer Coefficient

Flows across cylinders and spheres, in general, involve flow separation, which is difficult to handle analytically. The local Nusselt number Nu around the periphery of a cylinder subjected to cross flow varies considerably. Small Nu decreases with increasing as a result of the thickening of the laminar boundary layer. 80< <90 Nu reaches a minimum low Reynolds numbers due to separation in laminar flow high Reynolds numbers transition to turbulent flow.

 >90 laminar flow Nu increases with increasing due to intense mixing in the separation zone. 90< <140 turbulent flow Nu decreases due to the thickening of the boundary layer. 140 turbulent flow Nu reaches a second minimum due to flow separation point in turbulent flow.

Average Heat Transfer Coefficient

For flow over a cylinder (Churchill and Bernstein):
Nucyl hD 0.62 Re Pr = = 0.3 + 2/3 1 4 k 1 + ( 0.4 Pr )
12 1/ 3

Re 1 + 282, 000

58

45

(7-35)

RePr>0.2 The fluid properties are evaluated at the film temperature [Tf=0.5(T+Ts)]. Flow over a sphere (Whitaker): 14 hD 12 23 0.4 = 2 + 0.4 Re + 0.06 Re Pr Nusph = s k The two correlations are accurate within 30%.

(7-36)

 A more compact correlation for flow across cylinders

Nucyl hD = = C Re m Pr n (7-37) k

where n = 1/3 and the experimentally determined constants C and m are given in Table 7-1. Eq. 735 is more accurate, and thus should be preferred in calculations whenever possible.

Flow Across Tube Bank

Cross-flow over tube banks is commonly encountered in practice in heat transfer equipment such as heat exchangers. In such equipment, one fluid moves through the tubes while the other moves over the tubes in a perpendicular direction. Flow through the tubes can be analyzed by considering flow through a single tube, and multiplying the results by the number of tubes. For flow over the tubes the tubes affect the flow pattern and turbulence level downstream, and thus heat transfer to or from them are altered.

 Typical arrangement
in-line staggered

The outer tube diameter D is the characteristic length. The arrangement of the tubes are characterized by the
transverse pitch ST, longitudinal pitch SL , and the diagonal pitch SD between tube centers.

In-line ()

Staggered ()

 As the fluid enters the tube bank, the flow area decreases from A1=STL to AT= (ST-D)L between the tubes, and thus flow velocity increases. In tube banks, the flow characteristics are dominated by the maximum velocity Vmax. The Reynolds number is defined on the basis of maximum velocity as
Vmax D Vmax D Re D = =
(7-39)

For in-line arrangement, the maximum velocity occurs at the minimum flow area between the tubes
Vmax = ST V ST D

(7-40)

 In staggered arrangement,
for SD>(ST+D)/2 : for SD<(ST+D)/2 :

Vmax
Vmax

ST = V ST D
ST = V 2 ( SD D )

(7-40) (7-41)

The nature of flow around a tube in the first row resembles flow over a single tube. The nature of flow around a tube in the second and subsequent rows is very different. The level of turbulence, and thus the heat transfer coefficient, increases with row number. there is no significant change in turbulence level after the first few rows, and thus the heat transfer coefficient remains constant.

 Zukauskas has proposed correlations whose general form is

hD 0.25 m n NuD = = C Re D Pr ( Pr Prs ) k

(7-42)

where the values of the constants C, m, and n depend on Reynolds number. The average Nusselt number relations in Table 72 are for tube banks with 16 or more rows. Those relations can also be used for tube banks with NL provided that they are modified as

NuD , N L = F NuD

(7-43)

The correction factor F values are given in Table 73.

Pressure drop
the pressure drop over tube banks is expressed as:
P = N L f
2 Vmax

(7-48)

f is the friction factor and is the correction factor. The correction factor () given in the insert is used to account for the effects of deviation from square arrangement (in-line) and from equilateral arrangement (staggered).


ST
Ti Te

= D
L

T = L ()

dx Ts dQ dT Te

Ti

. Q = (m c p )c (Te Ti ) = total heat transfer rate =

" dx " , (i) Energy Balance (cold fluid) : dQ = ( m c p ) c dT (ii) Heat Transfer (tube surface to fluid) : dQ = h ( pdx )(Ts T ) Combined (i) and (ii),
Ti Te .

dT = (T Ts )

L'

hp (m c p )c
.

]dx;

ln(

Te Ts hpL ' )= . Ti Ts (m c p )c

hpL ' hAs Te Ts = exp = exp Ti Ts ( mc p ) c ( mc p ) c

DNL h( )L ' h DNL DhN L' = exp = exp = exp U ( N T ST L )c p U ( N T ST )c p ( U A fr )c p

p = (x)() L' = (x) pL' = total heat transfer area = = (DL) N N = total number of tubes L = tube length = () NT = number of tubes in one row (perpendicular to x - direction)
:
. Q = ( m c p ) c (Te Ti ) = total heat transfer rate

Ts Ti hpL ' ln( )= . Ts Te (m c p )c

(T T ) (T T ) s e Q = h( pL' ) s i = h( As )( LMTD ) Ts Ti ln( ) Ts Te

(Ts Ti ) (Ts Te ) = Log Mean Temperature Difference Tln T T ln( s i ) Ts Te

LMTD

Example 7-7