Effect of Flow Angle-of-Attack on the Local Heat/Mass Transfer From a Wall-Mounted Cube

Abstract

An experimental study of the local mass transfer over the entire surface of a wall-mounted cube is performed with a particular emphasis on the effects of flow angles-of-attack (0 deg ≤ α ≤ 45 deg). Invoking an analogy between heat transfer and mass transfer, the presently obtained mass transfer results can be transformed into their heat transfer counterparts. Reynolds number based on the cube height and mean free-stream velocity varies between 3.1 × 104 and 1.1 × 105. To substantiate the mass transfer results, streakline patterns are visualized on the cube surfaces as well as the endwall using the oil-graphite technique. Significantly different flow regimes and local mass transfer characteristics are identified as the angle-of-attack varies. The overall convective transport is dominated by three-dimensional flow separation that includes multiple horseshoe vortex systems and an arch-shaped vortex wrapping around the rear portion of the cube. In addition to the local study, power correlations between the surface-resolved mass transfer Sherwood number and the Reynolds number are presented for all α values studied. Mass transfer averaged over the entire cube is compared with that of its two-dimensional counterpart with crossflow around a tall prism.