Effect of the Prandtl number on the convective heat transfer from rotating disks

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Stefan aus der Wiesche
• Subject Area: Fluid Mechanics ; Technical Thermodynamics
• Term: from 2012 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 217145824

Convective heat transfer problems in rotating disk systems are widespread in scientific and engineering applications. For time being, large volume of experimental and computational data on flow and convective heat and mass transfer in different types of rotating disk configurations have been accumulated, but the systematic influence of the Prandtl number Pr is still unknown. Experimental data are only available for air (Pr = 0.71), and there is a lack of consensus with regard to theoretical correlations. The objective of the proposed project is to close this fundamental gap by means of experimental investigations of the convective heat transfer from a freely rotating disk placed in a pool filled with pure water and water-glycerine mixtures. This approach enables the systematic investigation of the effect of the Prandtl number form order 2 up to 10,000. Furthermore, the combined effect of rotation and crossflow can be measured for Pr = 7 for the first time by employing a large-scale towing tank (at the TUHH). The experimental campaign is also supported by computational fluid dynamics studies. Together with the experimental data, that approach offers a great potential to clarify the complex interaction between the involved hydrodynamical and thermal boundary layers and their interaction.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Participating Institution: Technische Universität Hamburg ; Institut für Fluiddynamik und Schiffstheorie
• Participating Person: Dr.-Ing. Igor Shevchuk