A numerical study on turbulent couette flow and heat transfer in concentric annuli

Abstract

A theoretical study is performed to investigate turbulent flow and heat transfer characteristics in a concentric annulus with a heated inner cylinder moving in the direction of flow (Couette flow). The two‐equation k‐ε model is employed to determine turbulent viscosity and kinetic energy. The Reynolds stress and turbulent heat flux are expressed by Boussinesq’s approximation. The governing boundary‐layer equations are discretized by means of a control volume finite‐difference technique and numerically solved using a marching procedure. Results are obtained for the time‐averaged streamwise velocity profile, turbulent kinetic energy profile, friction factor, and Nusselt number. These results agree well with experimental data in the existing literature. It is concluded from the study that the streamwise movement of the inner wall induces an attenuation in the turbulent kinetic energy, resulting in a reduction in the heat transfer performance and an increase in the velocity ratio of the moving inner cylinder to the fluid flow causes a substantial decrease in both the friction factor and the Nusselt number as well as a drastic reduction in the turbulent kinetic energy in the inner wall region.

Citation

Torii, S. and Yang, W.‐. (1994), "A numerical study on turbulent couette flow and heat transfer in concentric annuli", International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, Vol. 4 No. 4, pp. 367-377. https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000004110