Chapter 6

Fundamentals of Convection
Physics of Fluid flow
convection classification

Velocity Thermal
boundary boundary
layer layer

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 Convection in daily life
• Blowing on food Engineering applications
• CPU fan
• Radiator fan
• Steel cooling

We resort forced convection

whenever we need to increase
the rate of heat transfer

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Physical Mechanism of Convection
• Heat transfer through a
liquid or gas can be by
Conduction Convection conduction or convection
Requires • Fluid motion enhances heat
medium transfer by increasing the
rate of heat transfer
No fluid Requires
motion fluid motion

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

Forced convection Natural convection

Conduction

Heat transfer from a hot surface to the surrounding fluid

by convection and conduction
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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

• Heat transfer through a solid is by conduction

• Heat transfer through a fluid is by convection
in the presence of bulk fluid motion and by
conduction in the absence of it
• Conduction in a fluid is a limiting case of
convection

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

• Heat transfer
through a fluid
sandwiched
between two parallel
plates

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

Heat transfer rate

Newton’s Law of Cooling

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

What controls convection?

Geometry
Fluid Type of
properties flow

Convection

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

dynamic
viscosity, µ

fluid velocity, V thermal

conductivity, k

specific heat, cp Density, ρ

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

Convection heat transfer coefficient

h (W/m2.K)

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

The Nusselt Number

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

Classification of Fluid Flow

Fluid Flow
Viscous Internal Compressible Laminar

Inviscid External Incompressible Turbulent

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

Viscous versus Inviscid Regions of Flow

• Viscous flows: Flows in which the frictional
effects are significant. (Viscosity important).
• Inviscid flow regions: In many flows of
practical interest, there are regions (typically
regions not close to solid surfaces) where
viscous forces are negligibly small compared
to inertial or pressure forces. (Viscosity not
important)

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

Internal versus External Flow

• External flow: The flow of an unbounded
fluid over a surface such as a plate, a wire, or a
pipe.
• Internal flow: The flow in a pipe or duct if the
fluid is completely bounded by solid surfaces.

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

• Water flow in a pipe is internal flow, and

airflow over a ball is external flow.
• The flow of liquids in a duct is called open-
channel flow if the duct is only partially filled
with the liquid and there is a free surface.

External flow over a tennis ball,

and the turbulent wake region
behind.

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

Compressible versus Incompressible Flow

• Incompressible flow: If the density of flowing
fluid remains nearly constant throughout (e.g.,
liquid flow).
• Compressible flow: If the density of fluid
changes during flow (e.g., high-speed gas
flow).

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

Laminar versus Turbulent Flow

• Laminar flow: The highly ordered fluid motion
characterized by smooth layers of fluid. The flow of high-
viscosity fluids such as oils at low velocities is typically
laminar.

• Transitional flow: A flow that alternates between being

laminar and turbulent

• Turbulent flow: The highly disordered fluid motion that

typically occurs at high velocities and is characterized by
velocity fluctuations. The flow of low-viscosity fluids such as
air at high velocities is typically turbulent.

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

Natural (or Unforced) versus Forced Flow

• Forced flow: A fluid is forced to flow over a
surface or in a pipe by external means such as
a pump or a fan.
• Natural flow: Fluid motion is due to natural
means such as the buoyancy effect, which
manifests itself as the rise of warmer (and
thus lighter) fluid and the fall of cooler (and
thus denser) fluid.

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

Steady versus Unsteady Flow

• The term steady implies no change at a point
with time.
• The opposite of steady is unsteady.
• The term uniform implies no change with
location over a specified region.
• The term periodic refers to the kind of
unsteady flow in which the flow oscillates
about a steady mean.

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 Boundary Layers
• Velocity boundary layer
• Thermal boundary layer

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

Velocity Boundary Layer

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

The development of the boundary layer for flow over a

flat plate, and the different flow regimes

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

Wall Shear Stress

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

Viscosity vs Temperature

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

Thermal Boundary Layer

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

Prandtl Number

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

Prandtl Numbers of Common Fluids

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

Laminar and Turbulent Flow

Laminar flow:
Smooth streamlines
and highly ordered
motion
Turbulent flow:
Velocity fluctuations
and highly disordered
motion

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

Reynolds Number

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

Convection and Friction Coefficients

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PHYSICS OF CONVECTION FLUID FLOW CLASSIFICATION VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

Example:

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