Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2014, Mechanical Engineering

Three-passage serpentines with aspect ratios of 1:1, 1:2, and 1:6 were numerically studied using computational fluid dynamics and heat transfer. A CFD modeling methodology was systematically developed that balanced accurately resolving the flow physics with minimizing the computational cost, targeting industrial preliminary design requirements. The method was benchmarked against two published data sets consisting of turbulators on the leading and trailing walls in skewed 45 deg; to the flow offset parallel configuration with a fixed rib pitch to height ratio of 10 and a rib height to hydraulic diameter of 0.1 to 0.058, utilizing Reynolds numbers of 25,000 and 50,000 and rotation number ranging from 0 and 0.25. Predictions were completed to study the effects of changing aspect ratio between 1:1, 1:2, and 1:6 and changing rotation numbers from 0 to 0.3. The 1:6 aspect ratio predictions varied from the lower aspect ratios. Differences included flow recirculation along the leading wall of the first passage for rotation numbers greater than or equal to 0.2 and high Nusselt numbers immediately downstream of the turn for the wall opposite the Coriolis force direction. Overall enhancement values for the test section showed the aspect ratio has a greater influence on Nusselt numbers than rotation.

Committee: Michael Dunn Ph.D (Advisor); Jen-Ping Chen Ph.D (Committee Member); Randall Mathison Ph.D (Committee Member); Mohammad Samimy Ph.D (Committee Member); Jeffrey Rambo Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Mechanical Engineering