Turbulent heat transfer in a channel with bars in tandem and in side by side arrangements

This work numerically investigates the effects of two square bars placed in various arrangements in a channel on pressure drop and heat transfer. Tandem arrangements and the two bars arranged side by side to the approaching flow are considered. The separation distance between the bars is varied in both types of arrangements. The Reynolds number Re based on channel height is 104, whereas the bar height to channel height (d/H) is 0.152. The channel walls are subjected to a constant wall temperature. The k‐e turbulence model was used in conjunction with the Reynolds‐averaged momentum and energy equations for the simulations. A finite volume technique with staggered grids combined with the SIMPLEC algorithm is applied with a fine grid resolution. Results show that the local and global Nusselt numbers on the channel walls are strongly increased by the unsteady vortex shedding induced by the bars.