Numerical investigation of convective heat transfer and friction factor of laminar air flow in a perforated trapezoid-shaped plate-fin channel in 3 dimensions with geometric analysis (A new achievement)

The aim of this study is to develop a unique perforated trapezoid-shaped plate-fin channel. So, a numerical simulation is performed on the mentioned plates with different geometries. The laminar airflow (10≤Re≤1000) passes through the inter-fin passages with perforated fins, whose perforations are distributed equally throughout the duct. The effects of corrugation angle (ϕ), cross-section aspect ratio (α=H/Savg), and cross-section inclination angle (Ψ) are studied. This study has identified the improved performance of the Nusselt number and the Fanning friction factor (f) in a variety of Reynolds. A quantitative assessment of the improvement is done by measuring the area goodness factor (j/f) compared with a plain flat channel. Based on the results, with increasing ϕ from 30˚ to 45˚, the mentioned channel’s performance improves. However, as the angle increases more, performance begins to decrease. The channel’s performance improves with increasing α. Also, the performance improves by changing Ψ from 90˚ to 76.60˚. Based on the results, for a perforated case with ϕ=45˚, α=10, and Ψ=90˚ at Re=200, versus the non-perforated fin, f decreases ~9%, and j/f increases ~61%. Also, for the above-mentioned perforated case, when Ψ is changed from 90˚ to 76.60˚, at Re=200, f decreases ~1.3%, and j/f increases ~8.2%.