Comparison of Heat Transfer From Staggered Pin Fin Arrays With Circular, Cubic and Diamond Shaped Elements

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of pin shape of staggered arrays on heat transfer enhancement. Three different pins: circular, cubic, and diamond, are studied. The arrays consists of twelve rows of five columns with geometry configuration of ST/D = 2.5 and SL/D = 2.5, H/D = 1. Tests were conducted at Reynolds number between 12,000 and 19,000. The heat transfer measurement uses a liquid crystal imaging technique combined with a one-dimensional, transient conduction model and a lumped heat-capacitance model. The results reveal that the heat transfer from the cubic pin arrays and diamond pin arrays is higher than that from the circular pin arrays at the same Reynolds number. However, the circular pin arrays provide the lowest pressure loss among the three arrays. Considering the trade-offs between heat transfer and pumping power, the circular pin arrays may still be the better choice as a heat exchanger.