Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 34 (2010) 744752

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Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science

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Thermohydraulics of turbulent ow through rectangular and square ducts with

axial corrugation roughness and twisted-tapes with and without oblique teeth
Sujoy Kumar Saha *,1
ENEA Casaccia Research Centre, Institute of Thermal Fluid Dynamics, Ofce Building F-20, Via Anguillarese 301, 00123 S.M. Galeria, Roma, Italy

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The heat transfer and the pressure drop characteristics of turbulent ow of air (10,000 < Re < 100,000)
Received 13 October 2009 through rectangular and square ducts with combined internal axial corrugations on all the surfaces of
Received in revised form 9 January 2010 the ducts and with twisted-tape inserts with and without oblique teeth have been studied experimen-
Accepted 9 January 2010
tally. The axial corrugations in combination with twisted-tapes of all types with oblique teeth have been
found to perform better than those without oblique teeth in combination with axial corrugations. The
heat transfer and the pressure drop measurements have been taken in separate test sections. Heat trans-
Keywords:
fer tests were carried out in electrically heated stainless steel ducts incorporating uniform wall heat ux
Augmentation
Enhancement
boundary conditions. Pressure drop tests were carried out in acrylic ducts. The ow friction and thermal
Forced convection characteristics are governed by duct aspect ratio, corrugation angle, corrugation pitch, twist ratio, space
Turbulent ratio, length, tooth horizontal length and tooth angle of the twisted-tape, Reynolds number and Prandtl
Axial corrugation number. Correlations developed for friction factor and Nusselt number have predicted the experimental
Twisted-tape inserts data satisfactorily. The performance of the geometry under investigation has been evaluated. It has been
Oblique teeth found that on the basis of constant pumping power, up to 55% heat duty increase occurs for the combined
axial corrugation and regularly spaced twisted-tape elements inserts with oblique teeth case compared
to without oblique teeth twisted-tape inserts cases in the measured experimental parameters space. On
the constant heat duty basis, the pumping power has been reduced up to 47% for the combined enhance-
ment geometry than the individual enhancement geometries. However, full-length and short-length
twisted-tapes with oblique teeth in combination with axial corrugations show only marginal improve-
ments over the twisted-tapes without oblique teeth.
2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Three dimensional corrugated channels are used in plate-type
heat exchangers and rotary regenerators. The corrugated channel
geometry is specied by corrugation angle and corrugation pitch.
Typically sinusoidal channels are used. Fig. 1 shows the corruga-
tion in the four walls of the square cross-section duct. The effect
of corrugation angle was investigated by a number of investigators,
[1,2]. The electrochemical technique was used in [1] to obtain the
mass transfer coefcient. The corrugation angle ranged from 0
(corresponding to parallel straight duct of sinusoidal cross-section)
to 90 (corrugations normal to the main ow). Both friction factor
and Nusselt number increase monotonically up to the corrugation
angle 80. Beyond 80, they decrease slightly, and approach the
values of a two-dimensional corrugated channel. Focke and Knibbe
* Tel.: +91 9830493430; fax: +91 3326685043.
E-mail address: sujoy_k_saha@hotmail.com
1
On leave from Mechanical Engineering Department, Bengal Engineering and
Science University, Shibpur, Howrah 711 103, West Bengal, India.
[3] have shown that at corrugation angle 45, the uid ow is
predominantly along the furrows. On reaching the plate edge, the
uid streams are reected and return to the opposite plate edge
along the furrows. Focke et al. [1] suggested similar ow patterns
up to corrugation angle 60. The reason for increase and decrease
of the friction factor and Nusselt number is the positive and nega-
tive interaction of criss-crossing uid streams inducing secondary
swirl motion, change of ow pattern and accelerating or decelerat-
ing effect on them. The complex interactions between the uid
streams lead to early transition to turbulence.
Stasiek et al. [2] investigated the effect of corrugation pitch to
channel height ratio. Local heat transfer coefcients were obtained
from liquid crystal thermography.
Abdel-Kariem and Fletcher [4] developed friction factor and
Nusselt number correlations.
For turbulent regime (Re > 500), (30 < h < 80),
 0:67
h
Nu 0:26Re0:67 Pr0:4 1
45

0894-1777/$ - see front matter 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.expthermusci.2010.01.003
 S.K. Saha / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 34 (2010) 744752 745

Nomenclature

A heat transfer area, m2 S space between two successive tape elements, m

Ac axial ow cross-sectional area, m2 s space ratio = S=Dh , dimensionless
A0 plain duct ow cross-sectional area, = W/D, m2 T temperature, K
AR aspect ratio = W  D, dimensionless. DTw wall to uid bulk temperature difference, K
Cp constant pressure specic heat, J/kg K thl non-dimensional tooth horizontal length, t hl thl =H,
D depth of the duct cross-section, m dimensionless
Dh hydraulic diameter of the test duct = 4A0/P, m thl tooth horizontal length, m
D non-dimensional diameter of the rod connecting two Va mean axial velocity = m=_ qAc , m/s
successive tape elements V0 mean velocity based on plain duct diameter = m= _ qA0 ,
d actual diameter of the rod = d  Dh , m m/s
f fully-developed Fanning friction factor = 1=2DP0 = W width of the duct cross-section, m
qV 20 Dh =z, dimensionless y twist ratio = H=Dh , dimensionless
g gravitational acceleration, m/s2 X Prn, the value of n depends on the exponent of Pr in the
G mass ux = m=A _ c , kg/m2 s correlation
 0:14
H pitch for 180 rotation of twisted-tape, m lb 1
Y l  5:172
hz axially local heat transfer coefcient, W/(m2 K) w

k uid thermal conductivity, W/(m K) z axial length, the distance between the measuring pres-
LT length of twisted-tape, m sure taps, m
l non-dimensional twisted-tape length = LT =L, dimen-
sionless Greek symbols
L axial length, length of the duct, m a twisted-tape tooth angle,
m_ mass ow rate, kg/s h corrugation angle,
RL
Num axially averaged Nusselt number = 1L 0 hz Dkh dz, dimension- l uid dynamic viscosity, kg/ms
less q density of the uid, kg/m3
DPz pressure drop, mm
DP0 pressure drop, N/m2 Subscripts
P wetted perimeter in the particular cross-section of the b at bulk uid temperature
duct, rib spacing, m h hydraulic diameter
Pr uid Prandtl number = lC p =k, dimensionless i inlet
q1 electrical energy input to the system, W m axially averaged
q2 uid enthalpy gain, W o outlet
q00 0:5 2 w at duct wall temperature
pDh L q1 q2 , W/m
z local value
Ra Rayleigh number = Gr  Pr
Re Reynolds number based on plain duct diameter =
qV 0 Dh =l, dimensionless

 2:5
h turbulent duct ow applications, Smithberg and Landis [5], Thor-
f 7:3Re0:198
45
Twisted-tapes as shown in Fig. 2 cause the ow to spiral along
the tube length. The tape inserts generally do not have good ther-
mal contact with the tube wall, so the tape does not act as a n.
It has been observed from the literature that twisted-tape is a
geometric form insert inside a duct. Twisted-tapes cause the ow
to be helical and faster along the duct length. Even for zero tape
twist (straight tape), the heat transfer coefcient increases due to
reduction in hydraulic diameter. Twisted-tapes are useful for some
Fig. 1. Square duct with internal axial corrugation.
2 sen and Landis [6], Watanabe et al. [7], Date [8] and Zhuo et al.
[9]. Kieda et al. [10] investigated the single-phase water ow and
heat transfer in a rectangular cross-sectioned twisted channel.
Zhang et al. [11] used twisted-tape inserts and ribs in a circular
tube. Later Zhang et al. [12] used different types of inserts to study
the combined rib and twisted-tape inserts in square ducts. Zimpa-
rov [13] reported experimental data for twisted-tapes in three-
start corrugated tubes. The heat transfer coefcients and friction
factors increased with the increase in corrugation angle and de-
crease in tape twist ratio. Zimparov [14] extended the previous
work to single-start corrugated tubes with twisted-tape and ob-
tained similar results to those of the previous study. But perfor-
mance evaluation based on different criteria showed conicting
results. Shivkumar and Rao [15] provided additional data for
twisted-tapes in a corrugated tube.
An analytical model was developed by Zimparov [16,17] to pre-
dict the heat transfer coefcients and friction factors for turbulent
ow in a corrugated tube with twisted-tape insert. The ow eld
was divided into two regions a core region and a wall region.
The helicoidal core ow was modeled following the suggestion of
Smithberg and Landis [5], and the mixing-length model was used
to account for the wall roughness effect. The model reasonably
predicted his own data but failed to predict others data. More
information on twisted-tapes may be obtained from [1831].
From the above discussion, it is observed that axial corrugations
and twisted-tapes have been investigated, especially for the
746 S.K. Saha / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 34 (2010) 744752

(a) (b)

(c) (d)
0.5*H 0.5*H

0.5 thl* 0.5 thl*

Fig. 2. (a) Full-length twisted-tape insert inside a duct. (b) Regularly spaced twisted tape elements. (c) Full-length twisted-tape with oblique teeth. (d) Detail A of Figure c.

circular tube. However, the combined effect of axial corrugations

and twisted-tape inserts, particularly with oblique teeth has not (a)
been studied in the past; this is particularly true for square and Air
Plenum
rectangular ducts. In this paper, therefore, the combined effect of
axial corrugations and twisted-tape inserts having oblique teeth Test Channel
D
in circular ducts, square and rectangular ducts has been compre- b
hensively studied experimentally. The heat transfer and friction
characteristics have been presented. Friction factor and Nusselt
number correlations have been presented. Also the performance a W
of this combined geometry has been evaluated. L
l
X
2. Experimental rig

Three (one square and two rectangular) channels for heat trans-
(b)
fer measurements were constructed. Also three (one square and
two rectangular) acrylic channels (for pressure drop measure-
ments) of same dimensions as that of heat transfer channels were
constructed. The circular duct had 25 mm inside diameter. The
square channel had a 51 mm  51 mm cross-section. Rectangular
channel with AR = 0.5 and 0.25 had a 51 mm  102 mm and
25.5 mm  102 mm cross-sections, respectively. The hydraulic
diameters of the channels were 51 mm, 68 mm and 40.8 mm, (c)
respectively. Each channel and the circular duct was 1.275 m long.
A Plexiglas plenum was connected to the inlet of the test channel
to provide a sudden entrance condition. The sketch and dimension
of the test channel and the associated plenum are shown in Fig. 3.
Each wall of the heat transfer test channel was made of noncon-
ductive material. The nonconductive wall was constructed by the
combination of a 6.4 mm thick wood board and a 12.8 mm thick
Plexiglas plate. Thin ceramic foils were placed on the inner side
of the wood board surface for electrical and thermal insulation.
Then 0.025 mm thick stainless steel foils were cemented to the in-
ner face (ceramic surface) of each wall, controlled individually by
an autotransformer, for controllable electrical heating to the test
channel. The cross-section of the test channel and the distributions
Fig. 3. (a) Sketch of the test channels and the plenums, (b) test channel cross-
of electrical foil heaters are sketched in Fig. 3. section, and (c) distributions of electrical foil heaters.
For corrugated channel heat transfer tests, brass corrugations
were xed on the walls of the foil heated channels. Ceramic foils
did not prevent thermal conduction from the stainless steel foil 0.825 m, 1.025 m, and 1.225 m respectively. The thermocouples
to brass ribs. Each heat transfer test channel had 28 (36 gauge cop- were fabricated from a single roll and the wire was calibrated at
per constantan) thermocouples, at seven axial locations and four the ice point and steam point. The thermocouples were connected
thermocouples at each axial location (one in the middle of each to a 36 points selector switch box, which in turn was connected to
edge along the periphery). The thermocouple hot junctions were digital multimeter and a single cold junction at 0 C. The power
glued to the inner surfaces of the ceramic foils. The axial positions supplied to each heat transfer test channel was measured by digital
of the thermocouples from the onset of heating along the down- voltmeter and ammeter. The inlet and outlet bulk air temperatures
stream direction were 0.025 m, 0.225 m, 0.425 m, 0.625 m, to the test sections were measured (after air passed through a
 S.K. Saha / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 34 (2010) 744752
1.00E+04
AR=1
AR=0.5
AR=0.25
Circular Duct
fRe
1.00E+03
1.00E+02
1.00E+03 1.00E+04
Re
Fig. 4. Effect of duct aspect ratio on friction factor, short-length twisted-tape: tooth
angle = 10, thl = 0.01538, corrugation angle = 30, P/e = 2.0437.
mixing chamber) by thermocouples placed 5 cm upstream from
the inlet and 20 cm downstream from the outlet of each test
section.
In order to reduce axial conduction of heat at the ends of the
test sections, Teon spacer discs of thickness 3 cm each were used
on either side of the test sections. The spacers were nished to
match the test section dimensions. Teon bushes xed at pitch cir-
cle holes of the MS anges eliminated metal to metal contact and
minimized heat loss by axial conduction. Thus the test section
was thermally insulated from rest of the ducting. Asbestos rope
and glass wool were used as thermal insulation which minimized
the radial heat loss from the heat transfer test channel.
In each pressure drop test channel, 12 pressure taps along the
top wall were used for the static pressure drop measurement. A
pressure tap was also located at the plenum to check the static
pressure of air entering the test channel. Pressure drops in the test
channel were measured by using vertical U-tube water manome-
ter. Air was forced through the test channel by a blower.
The pressure drop test sections were smooth acrylic ducts,
1.275 m long and cross-sections identical to those of heat transfer
test sections. Pressure drop test channels had acrylic corrugations.
For both heat transfer and pressure drop tests, the corrugations
were glued to the channel top and bottom walls. Pressure taps
were made of 30 mm long, 4.5 mm o.d. pieces of acrylic tubes.
Threads were cut on a lathe on one end of the taps and the drilled
holes on the test sections were threaded internally by 0 BA taps.
The threaded portion of each pressure tap was covered with Teon
tape before this was inserted into a tapped hole on the duct wall to
prevent leakage. Additionally, rigidity of the taps was ensured by
using Araldite. The pressure taps were connected by exible PVC
tubing to the manometer. First the experimental set up was
checked for leaks. Preliminary experiments were carried to check
the reliability of the thermocouples. When the steady state was
reached, all the thermocouple readings were taken and those were
found to match each other within a few microvolts. Twisted-tapes
were made from stainless steel sheet and the tape-rod assembly in
the regularly spaced twisted-tape elements was made by spot
welding of tape elements with the slotted ends of the stainless
steel thin rods. The twisted-tapes were placed centrally in the
ducts by stainless steel lugs. The full-length twisted-tape was with
l = 1 and the short-length twisted-tape was with l = 0.5. Regularly
spaced twisted-tape elements were with s = 2.5. All twisted-tapes
were with y = 2.5. Corrugation angles were 30 and 60.
Non-dimensional length of the twisted-tapes was 0.5 and 1. Non-
747
dimensional corrugation pitch, P/e was 2.0437 and 5.6481,
twisted-tape non-dimensional tooth horizontal length was
0.01538 and 0.03077. Twisted-tape tooth angle was 10 and 30.
3. Operating procedure and data reduction
In an experimental run, the blower was switched on and the
heat input to the test section was set to the required value by
adjusting the autotransformers. The air ow rate was controlled
to the desired value. The air mass ow rate was calculated by not-
ing the pressure drop across the orice meter.
The net heat input q1 to air was determined from the electrical
energy input to the system. The enthalpy rise q2 of air was calcu-
lated from the equation
1.00E+05 _ p T bo  T bi
q2 mC 3
The set of data taken in a run were accepted only if the differ-
ence between the net heat input q1 and the enthalpy rise q2 was
less than 3%. In such a case the actual heat input to the test section
was taken as the average of q1 and q2.
The bulk temperature of air at any axial position at a distance z
from the inlet was computed by assuming a linear temperature
variation along the length. The duct inner wall temperatures were
determined from the measured values of the outer wall tempera-
ture by applying the one dimensional heat conduction equation.
The circumferentially averaged inner wall temperature (Twi) at
any axial position was taken as the arithmetic mean of the inner
wall temperatures at that axial position. The heat transfer coef-
cient (h) at any axial position was determined from the heat ux
based on the inner surface area; the average inner wall tempera-
ture and the calculated uid bulk mean temperature at that axial
position.
h q00 =T wi  T b 4
The local Nusselt numbers were axially averaged by trapezoidal
rule. The rst two local values were averaged from the upstream
end. Thereafter, this average value was used to average with the
third local value. This Marching procedure was followed until the
extreme downstream end local value was reached.
The properties of air were evaluated at the mean bulk
temperature.
An uncertainty analysis as shown in Appendix, Kline and
McClintock [32] was carried out. Uncertainties involved in the esti-
mation of friction factors were within 6.5% and those involved in
the estimation of Nusselt number were within 7%.
4. Results and discussion
In this section, results of the present investigation are presented
and discussed.
4.1. Pressure drop results
In the present case of the corrugated and twisted-tape (having
oblique teeth) inserted non-circular ducts, the ow is very compli-
cated and the ow-dynamics is not easily amenable to numerical
solution. Therefore, the present experimental data has been gener-
ated and are presented in this section. It may be mentioned here
that, in the present experiment, the differential pressure drop
has been measured at points far removed from the tube entrance
where entry-length problem does not exist.
4.1.1. Effect of duct aspect ratio
Irrespective of the corrugation pitch and corrugation angle, the
friction factor is the minimum for circular duct and it increases,
748 S.K. Saha / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 34 (2010) 744752

1.00E+04 1.00E+03

Corrugation Angle=30D Tooth Horz Length=0.01538

Corugation Angle=60D
Tooth Horz Length=0.03077

fRe
f.Re

1.00E+03

1.00E+02
1.00E+02
1.00E+03 1.00E+04 1.00E+05 1.00E+04 1.00E+05
Re
Re
Fig. 8. Effect of tooth horizontal length on friction factor, regularly spaced twisted-
Fig. 5. Effect of corrugation angle on friction factor, full-length twisted-tape: tooth
tape elements: tooth angle = 10, corrugation angle = 30, P/e = 5.6481, AR = 0.25.
angle = 10, thl = 0.01538, P/e = 2.0437, AR = 0.5.

1.00E+03
1.00E+03

P/e=2.0437
P/e=5.6481
f.Re

NuY

1.00E+02

AR=1
AR=0.5
AR=0.25
1.00E+02 Circular Duct
1.00E+03 1.00E+04 1.00E+05 1.00E+01
Re 1.00E+08 1.00E+09 1.00E+10
ReX
Fig. 6. Effect of corrugation pitch on friction factor, full-length twisted-tape: tooth
angle = 10, thl = 0.01538, corrugation angle = 30, AR = 0.5.
Fig. 9. Effect of duct aspect ratio on Nu, short-length twisted-tape: tooth
angle = 30, thl = 0.01538, corrugation angle = 30, P/e = 5.6481.

1.00E+04 although not very much, for non-circular duct as the duct
aspect ratio decreases (AR < 1). This is true for all short-length,
full-length and regularly spaced twisted-tape elements, as shown
in Fig. 4.
Tooth Angle=30D
Tooth Angle=10D 4.1.2. Effect of corrugation angle and corrugation pitch
Irrespective of whether the duct is circular or non-circular with
fRe

1.00E+03 AR < 1, the effect of corrugation angle on friction factor is similar;

this is true for all types of twisted-tapes. As the corrugation angle
increases, the friction factor increases, Fig. 5. As the corrugation
pitch increases, the friction factor decreases, Fig. 6.

4.1.3. Effect of twisted-tape tooth angle and tooth horizontal length

Irrespective of whether the duct is circular or non-circular with
AR < 1, the effect of twisted-tape tooth angle and tooth horizontal
1.00E+02
1.00E+03 1.00E+04 1.00E+05 length on friction factor is similar; this is true for all types of
twisted-tapes. As the twisted-tape tooth horizontal length and an-
Re
gle increase, the friction factor increases, Figs. 7 and 8. However,
Fig. 7. Effect of tooth angle on friction factor, regularly spaced twisted-tape the friction factor is a strong and a weak function of tooth angle
elements: thl = 0.01538, corrugation angle = 60, P/e = 2.0437, AR = 1. and tooth horizontal length, respectively.
 S.K. Saha / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 34 (2010) 744752 749

1.00E+03 1.00E+02

Tooth Angle=30D
Tooth Angle=10D

NuY
NuY

1.00E+02 1.00E+01

Corrugation Angle=60D
Corrugation Angle=30D

1.00E+01 1.00E+00
1.00E+08 1.00E+09 1.00E+10
1.00E+08 1.00E+09 1.00E+10
ReX ReX

Fig. 12. Effect of corrugation angle on Nu, regularly spaced twisted-tape elements:
Fig. 10. Effect of tooth angle on Nu, full-length twisted-tape: thl = 0.01538,
tooth angle = 10, thl = 0.01538, P/e = 2.0437, AR = 0.5.
corrugation angle = 30, P/e = 5.6481, AR = 0.5.

1.00E+02 1.00E+02
NuY

1.00E+01
NuY

P/e=5.6481
Tooth Horz Length=0.01538 P/e=2.0437
Tooth Horz Length=0.03077
1.00E+00
1.00E+01 1.00E+08 1.00E+09 1.00E+10
1.00E+07 1.00E+08 1.00E+09 1.00E+10
ReX
ReX
Fig. 13. Effect of corrugation pitch on Nu, regularly spaced twisted-tape elements:
Fig. 11. Effect of tooth horizontal length on Nu, full-length twisted-tape: tooth tooth angle = 30, thl = 0.01538, corrugation angle = 60, AR = 1.
angle = 10, corrugation angle = 60, P/e = 2.0437, AR = 0.5.
tum and pressure losses, thermal energy transport, secondary ow,
The present experimental data compared well within 12% with boundary layer separation and ow reattachment with consequent
the experimental friction factor data, Eq. (2) of Abdel-Kariem and different velocity and temperature proles.
Fletcher [4].
The results shown in Figs. 48 are explained by the uid mixing
4.2.1. Note
with associated momentum and pressure losses, secondary ow,
For all types of twisted-tapes, both friction factor and Nusselt
boundary layer separation and ow reattachment with consequent
number were higher with axial corrugation in combination with
different velocity proles.
twisted-tapes having oblique teeth than those in case of twisted-
tapes without oblique teeth. The trends of the results for the
4.2. Heat transfer results
twisted-tape with oblique teeth are similar to the results for
twisted-tape without oblique teeth and therefore, the results with-
For the present experimental situation, the heat transfer coef-
out oblique teeth are not shown here for space limitations.
cient is not uniform along the corrugation and the twisted-tape,
The present experimental data compared well within 12% with
and exact agreement of theoretical result and experimental data
the experimental Nusselt number data, Eq. (1) of Abdel-Kariem and
cannot be expected. Therefore, even if the simplied theoretical
Fletcher [4].
solutions are obtained, the simulation will not be exact replica of
the real-life situation. In the present section, heat transfer results
of the present investigation are discussed. The effect of duct geom- 5. Correlations
etry and n geometry on heat transfer characteristics is generally
similar to that in case of pressure drop results, Figs. 913. The re- Friction factor correlation and Nusselt number correlation have
sults can be explained by the uid mixing with associated momen- been developed by log-linear regression analysis. The correlations
750 S.K. Saha / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 34 (2010) 744752

0 !0:1245 1
predict 98% experimental data within 12%. The correlations are as Re2
follows: A @1 0:5863 t0:1279
hl e0:0135 sin a A
y
5.1. Short-length twisted-tape and full-length twisted-tape and axial for regularly spaced twisted-tape elements 10
corrugation
The correlation of Nusselt number for twisted-tapes without
Without oblique teeth, for short-length twisted-tape, oblique teeth has been found to be:
For short-length twisted-tape:
0 0 0 1 12:67 11=7
 2 !0:5 0:15 2h0:0347 !
B 6 @ p A p A C 1
f  Re K @1 10 Re =y@
2
1 A Nu 0:023Term1 Term2 0:1 p
1  0:861 l
0:175

p 4d 2y W=D P
Dh e
2h0:0416 ! 11
0:186
 W=D1:55 1 p 0:638 l 5
P where Term1 and Term2 given below refer to forced and free con-
e
vection, respectively.
For full-length tape, l = 1, where, For full-length twisted-tape, l = 1.

2 0 0 1 10:5 30:8
  0:5   2 0:5
64y2 p2 0:25 p  4 Dd @Re2 =y@ p A 1 p
 A y2 7
6 2y 7
6 h
p4 Dd 7
0:4 6 h 7
Term1 1:1978Pr 6    7 12
6 p 2  2 Ddh 7
6 7
4 5

and

2       2 0:5 30:33
2 p p
6 p4 d
Dh
Re =y p4Dd
1 2y 7
6 7
Term2 0:5044Pr0:33 6DT w b    h 7 ; DT w T wi  T b 13
4 p 2  2 Dd 4y2 p2 0:5 5
h

  2
p22 d  2 ! For regularly spaced twisted-tape elements:
0
Dh
1
p
K 17:355  1 6  0:15
2y 1
@ p A
 Nu 0:023Term1 Term2 0:1
p4 d W=D
Dh
2h0:1693 0:148 !
d
For regularly spaced twisted-tape elements,  1 p 0:139 1:139 14
P s
0 0 0 1 12:67 11=7 e
 2 !0:5
B 6 @ p A p C
f  Re K @1 10 Re =y@
2
1 A A For twisted-tapes with oblique teeth, the Nu are B times those
p 4d 2y given by Eqs. (11) and (14) such that,
Dh
2h0:146 d0:121 0 1
p
!0:0135
s1:128
  0:189 7 Re2
P
W=D 1:49
B @1 0:4387 t 0:176
hl e0:438 sin a A
e y
where K is as above.
The friction factors for twisted-tapes with oblique teeth are A for full-length twisted-tape 15
times those given by Eqs. (5) and (7) such that,
0 1 0 !0:0237 1
!0:0328
Re2 Re2
A @1 0:3175 t 0:175 e0:0238 sin a A B @1 0:3386 t 0:189
hl e0:536 sin a A
y hl y

for full-length twisted-tape 8 for short-length twisted-tape 16

0 1 0 !0:0188 1
!0:0197
Re2 Re2
A @1 0:8321 t 0:1698 e0:0236 sin a A B @1 0:5314 t 0:174
hl e0:638 sin a A
y hl y

for short-length twisted-tape 9 for regularly spaced twisted-tape elements 17

 S.K. Saha / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 34 (2010) 744752 751

Table 1
thl = 0.01538, a(1) = 10, a(2) = 30, (P/e)1 = 2.0437, (P/e)2 = 5.6481, h(1) = 30, h(2) = 60, y = 2.5, s = 2.5. Performance ratios R1 and R2.

AR cttc, ttwOT/cttc, ttw/oOT a(1) cttc, ttwOT/cttc, ttw/oOT a(2)

h(1) h(2) h(1) h(2)
(P/e)1 (P/e)2 (P/e)1 (P/e)2 (P/e)1 (P/e)2 (P/e)1 (P/e)2
1
R1 1.139 1.117 1.124 1.117 1.237 1.388 1.551 1.443
R2 0.611 0.812 0.771 0.881 0.723 0.713 0.665 0.532
0.5
R1 1.098 1.112 1.225 1.077 1.008 1.019 1.126 1.257
R2 0.752 0.831 0.667 0.589 0.661 0.831 0.541 0.641
0.25
R1 1.224 1.314 1.246 1.238 1.334 1.211 1.116 1.277
R2 0.732 0.761 0.881 0.911 0.644 0.841 0.974 0.881
Circular duct
R1 1.222 1.332 1.445 1.116 1.021 1.114 1.162 1.247
R2 0.631 0.756 0.882 0.917 0.936 0.855 0.579 0.771

6. Performance evaluation Acknowledgements

Performance of the present duct geometry has been evaluated
on the basis of performance criteria dened by Bergles et al. [33].
Bergles et al. [33] have suggested several criteria for the perfor-
mance evaluation of enhancement devices. The performance of
the present geometry has been evaluated on the basis of the fol-
lowing two important criteria:
 Criterion 1 Basic geometry xed, pumping power xed
increase heat transfer Performance ratio R1.
 Criterion 2 Basic geometry xed, heat duty xed reduce
pumping power Performance ratio R2.
Nucttc;ttwOT
R1
Nucttc;ttw=oOT
The subscript cttc refers to combined twisted-tape and corruga-
tion. The subscripts ttwOT and ttw/oOT refer to twisted-tape with
oblique teeth and twisted-tape without oblique teeth, respectively.
f Re3 Ac cttc;ttwOT
Also R2
f Re3 Ac cttc;ttw=oOT
On constant heat duty basis, the pumping power has been re-
duced up to 47% for combined axial corrugations and regularly
spaced twisted-tape elements having oblique teeth cases com-
pared to those having regularly spaced twisted-tape elements
without oblique teeth. On constant pumping power basis, up to
55% heat duty increase has been observed, Table 1. For full-length
twisted-tape and short-length twisted-tape in combination with
axial corrugations, only marginal improvement is observed with
oblique teeth compared to without oblique teeth case.
7. Conclusions
The heat transfer and the pressure drop characteristics of turbu-
lent ow of air (10,000 < Re < 100,000) through rectangular and
square ducts with internal axial corrugations on all four surfaces
of the ducts and with twisted-tape inserts with and without obli-
que teeth have been studied experimentally. Circular duct has also
been used. The axial corrugations in combination with twisted-
tape inserts having oblique teeth have been found to perform sig-
nicantly better (up to 50%) than the case without oblique teeth, if
the twisted-tapes are regularly spaced; however, the improve-
ments are only marginal when the twisted-tapes are short-length
and full-length types.
The author gratefully acknowledges the generous nancial sup-
port received from the Department of Science and Technology,
Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India through
the Grant No. DST Project SR/S3/MERC-35/2004 dated 22nd March
2006. The author is also grateful to ENEA, Casaccia Research Centre,
Institute of Thermal Fluid Dynamics, Italy for its nancial support
in the present research.
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