Impact of Measurements Techniques on Heat Transfer Characteristics in Air Jet Arrays

Abstract

Air impact processes have diverse applications in engineering, including backflow welding, textile drying, and gas turbine blade and combustion liner cooling. This research examines the influence of experimental methodologies and measurement tools on convective heat transfer in adjustable air jet assemblies. The experiment involves the use of heated targets made of thin stainless steel foil with constant heat flux boundary conditions. Thermography measures target surface temperatures by analyzing how internal passage cross-flow affects convective heat transfer via outflow adjustments. The experiments involve two arrays of jet nozzles: inline and staggering, each comprising 44 impingement jet nozzles arranged in 4 rows with 11 jet holes in each row. The study presents unsteady time average local and spatial Nusselt numbers as functions of jet Reynolds number (4630-14000) and explores their dependence on the jet nozzle diameter. Cross-flow levels significantly affect spatial and local Nusselt numbers in both local and span-wise averaged values, regardless of the Reynolds number. Strong cross-flow (single configuration) distributes flow causing turbulence and uneven heat distribution, reducing Nusselt numbers. In contrast, moderate cross-flow (double configuration) improves heat transfer and increases Nusselt numbers. The study emphasizes the crucial role of experimental techniques in heat transfer evaluation and demonstrates agreement with prior studies within a standard error below 5%.