Experimental Investigation and Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis of Heat transfer through Circular, Square, Hexagonal shaped Fins Using Forced Convection

Abstract

This paper is discussed about analysis of heat transfer rate and investigate the efficiency of various shape of fins with rectangular duct pin-fin apparatus. Three different fins are used for analysis. The various shaped fins are circular, square and hexagonal. The aim is to determine the heat exchange and efficiency of the same area with a different shape. The purpose of the study is to calculate the maximum heat transfer from the fin surface and efficiency with changed fin shapes. For this analysis, the CFD ANSYS 14.5 Fluent is used. Heat supplied to a solid rod is conducted to solid fin. At the same time, convection takes place with air which flows through a duct. Nichrome (band type) heater used for heat supply is mounted with the fin. Heater is the made up of aluminum material and the fins are copper which high thermal conductivity than other materials. Fin models are generated by the solid work software after that imported into ANSYS 14.5 fluent. Fin length (12.5mm) and area (123 mm² ) are common for all. The analysis is done in a procedural way. First, lay the experimental setup then take the readings from various shaped fins separately. Heat transfer rate and efficiency from the observed readings are calculated for different Reynolds’ Number finally, the results are compared with other fins..