Laminar Heat Transfer Performances in a Tube with Center-Cleared Twisted Tape of Alternate Axes

To improve the heat transfer performance of laminar tubular flow, a center-cleared twisted tape of alternate axes was developed as inserts. Numerical simulation was conducted to investigate the effect of dislocation angle of twisted tapes on the thermo-hydraulic performances. The numerical results show that, the largest Nusselt number occurs at a dislocation angle of 60°. The friction factor f is relatively larger than that when the dislocation angle is 0°, and it exhibits an obvious increment with the dislocation angle. From the value of performance evaluation criterion (PEC), the best thermo-hydraulic performance is achieved at a 60° dislocation angle. The underlying mechanisms are analyzed in terms of flow field and temperature field.