This article presents an online Thermodynamics courseware and how it can be used to enhance the learning experience of students. The courseware has been developed to present the materials in a dynamic and interactive fashion. It also includes a review section to help students in the preparation of the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam. Since its first implementation in summer 2000, this courseware has received overwhelming response from our students. ß

This paper presents, how multimedia technology can be implemented over the web to enhance the learning experience of students at the University of Oklahoma in a heat transfer and fluid mechanics laboratory. This course module not only introduces fundamental theories about measurement, but also details the experimental setup and procedure for each laboratory assignment. In addition, it has a unique component called ''virtual laboratory'' in which students can learn the operation of advanced and sophisticated instruments that are not normally available in an undergraduate teaching laboratory. The implementation of ''virtual laboratory'' can better utilize the resources available while providing an excellent opportunity of learning for students.

Natural convection from a buried pipe with a layer of backfill is numerically examined in this study. The objective of the present study is to investigate how a step change in the permeability of the backfill would affect the flow patterns and heat transfer results. Numerical calculations have covered a wide range of the governing parameters (i.e., 10⩽Ra1⩽500 and 0.1⩽K1∕K2⩽10) for various backfill thicknesses (0.5⩽t∕ri⩽2). The results suggest that a more permeable backfill can minimize the heat loss and confine the flow to a region close to the pipe.

Heat transfer from a buried pipe has been a subject of great interest due to its many important engineering applications, which include the underground pipelines for oil and gas transport and the power cables. The problem considered in the present study has applications related to a radiant underfloor heating system in residence and industry. In the existing literature, heat transfer from a buried pipe has been considered for various heat transfer modes and configurations. For example, analytical solutions are readily available for heat conduction from one single cylindrical heat source or multiple heat sources, and the heat transfer results are often expressed in terms of the conduction shape factor. As for heat convection from an array of pipes, most of the existing studies have been focused on external crossflow with forced convection from a bundle of pipes with either aligned or staggered pipe arrangement. This area of research has received much attention due to its important industrial applications in the design of boilers and heat exchangers. On the other hand, studies involved natural convection from an array of pipes are relatively limited. The problem considered in the present study is related to the simulation of underfloor piping systems suspended in the joist space beneath the subfloor. Natural convective heat transfer from a row of horizontal heated pipes embedded in a closed cavity filled with air has been numerically examined in this study. A two-dimensional steady-state model has been developed using ANSYS Fluent for the numerical simulation. A parametric study has been performed to investigate the effects of pipe spacing, pipe depth and pipe temperature on the flow patterns and heat transfer rates. The heat transfer mechanism from the heated pipes to the top surface of the air-filled cavity is revealed through the plots of streamlines and isotherms. The present numerical model has been developed and validated using a parallel experimental study. From the radiant underfloor heating application perspective, the results showed that a radiant heating system with pipes embedded at a shallow burial depth and placed closer together resulted with a more desired surface temperature distribution.

Heat transfer and fluid flow induced by thermal buoyancy from a buried pipe with backfill has been examined in this study. Hele-Shaw cells with different gap widths were constructed to simulate a porous medium with distinct permeablities. The flow visualization experiment was set up to investigate how a step change in the permeability of a backfill would affect the flow patterns from a heated pipe. Both permeable and impermeable top surfaces with different buoyancy strengths were considered in this experiment. Using time-elapsed photographs, one observes that the flow fields for permeable and impermeable top boundaries displayed distinct characteristics. The presence of recirculating cell in the more permeable layer was confirmed. The flow fields predicted by numerical work are in good agreement with those observed in the experiment. Thus it is expected that the actual flow field would closely resemble those reported in the present study.