Use of computational fluid dynamics in domestic oven design

There is an increasing demand, both from customers and regulatory sources, for safer and more energy efficient products. Manufacturers are having to look to their design and development processes to service these demands. Traditional approaches have been to use prototype testing and only delve more deeply into specific aspects of the performance when issues arise. In this work the complex flow within the cooling circuit of the door of a pyrolytic oven is studied. A combination of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and experimental techniques is used. It will be shown that CFD can help with the achievement of an optimal solution, with the understanding of the flow behaviour and that there is a synergy between the numerical and experimental techniques. Using only one of these techniques would limit the understanding of the flow behaviour and could lead to a less than optimal solution to the design problem. This work aims to explore this particular complex industrial fluid flow situation to: understand the flow around the oven door’s cooling circuit  demonstrate the synergy of CFD and experimental work within development of a complex product explore the role of CFD within the product development process.