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Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 27 (2003) 283–294

www.elsevier.com/locate/etfs

Flow and heat transfer in straight cooling passages with

inclined ribs on opposite walls: an experimental and
computational study
a,*
H. Iacovides , G. Kelemenis a, M. Raisee b

a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, UMIST, P.O. Box 88, Manchester M60 1QD, UK
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tehran University, Iran
Received 16 October 2001; accepted 23 September 2002

Abstract

This paper discusses the results of a combined experimental and numerical study of flow and heat transfer in a straight duct, with
ribs of square cross section along two opposite walls, in a staggered arrangement and at an angle of 45° to the main flow direction.
The mean and fluctuating fluid motions are measured using laser Doppler anemometry and the local Nusselt number with the
steady-state liquid crystal technique. Flow computations have been produced using a three-dimensional, non-orthogonal flow
solver, with two 2-layer models of turbulence (an effective-viscosity model and a second-moment closure), in which across the near-
wall regions the dissipation rate of turbulence is obtained from the wall distance. The flow and thermal developments are found to
be dominated by the rib-induced secondary motion, which leads to strong spanwise variations in the mean flow and the local Nusselt
number and in a uniform distribution of turbulence intensities across the duct. Both 2-layer turbulence models produce satisfactory
predictions of the mean and turbulence motions. Somewhat surprisingly, considering the findings of earlier studies for ducts with
ribs normal to the flow, both 2-layer models also returned similar Nusselt number distributions. The main features of the measured
variation of the local Nusselt number are reproduced, but the actual Nusselt number levels are over-predicted, especially by the
2-layer k–e model.
Ó 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction through passages with inclined ribs have already ap-

Heat-transfer-enhancing ribs are now routinely em-
ployed in blade cooling applications. They are usually
employed along two opposite surfaces of internal pas-
sages within rotating blades. Moreover the trend in re-
cent years has been to align these ribs at an angle to the
main flow direction. The use of inclined ribs induces
secondary motion, parallel to the ribs, which is found
to improve the thermal performance of the cooling
passages. There is consequently a need for detailed
experimental data for such cases, to improve our
understanding of the flow and thermal development and
also for the validation of CFD packages, which are now
widely used. While investigations of heat transfer
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +44-161-200-3709; fax: +44-161-200-
3723.
E-mail address: h.iacovides@umist.ac.uk (H. Iacovides).
0894-1777/03/$ - see front matter Ó 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 8 9 4 - 1 7 7 7 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 2 9 8 - 4
peared in the scientific literature [1–4], studies that ex-
amine both the flow and thermal development are still
rare. The authorsÕ research group has been engaged in
the experimental and computational investigation of
blade cooling flows for over a decade [5–9]. A particular
feature of our experimental investigations has been the
fact that we have been able to produce both local ther-
mal and hydrodynamic data for internal cooling flows.
The outcome of our investigations of cooling flows
through passages with normal ribs has already been
documented [5–9]. In the numerical investigations, the
turbulence models employed included both effective-
viscosity models and second-moment closures. With
both these types of models the near-wall turbulence was
modeled either through a 2-layer approach, or through
low-Reynolds-number modelling. In the 2-layer ap-
proach, simpler near-wall models of turbulence were
employed within the near-wall regions that relied on a
prescribed dissipation rate of turbulence obtained from
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284 H. Iacovides et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 27 (2003) 283–294
Fig. 1. Flow geometry (P =H ¼ 10, h=H ¼ 0:1 and h=w ¼ 1).
the wall distance. Low-Reynolds-number models in-
volved the numerical integration of all the equations of
mean and turbulent motion, up to the solid surface. The
latter approach to the modeling of near-wall turbulence
required a finer numerical resolution of the near-wall
regions. It was shown that the flow development was
well predicted by all the turbulence models employed,
while the wall heat transfer was more reliably predicted
by low-Reynolds-number models, especially at the sec-
ond-moment-closure level.
Here, as shown in Fig. 1, we turn our attention to
flow and heat transfer through a straight duct of square
cross-section, with ribs of square-cross section installed
in a staggered arrangement along two opposite walls
and at an angle of 45° to the main flow direction. Flow
measurements, using laser Doppler anemometry (LDA),
and heat transfer measurements, using the liquid crystal
technique, with water as the working fluid, and numer-
ical computations are presented for a rib interval that is
sufficiently downstream (seven rib intervals) for repeat-
ing flow conditions to develop. Two 2-layer models of
turbulence have been used in the computations, an ef-
fective viscosity model and a second-moment closure
(differential stress model, DSM). The former consists of
the high-Re k–e in the fully turbulent region and a low-
Re one-equation model of k transport in the near-wall
regions. In the latter the transport equations for the
turbulent stresses are integrated up to the solid bound-
ary, while across the near-wall regions the dissipation
rate of turbulence, e, is obtained from a prescribed
length-scale, based on the wall distance. The 2-layer
models have been selected because our earlier experi-
ences in the computation of three-dimensional flows
with secondary motions [5] have shown that it is nec-
essary to integrate the mean flow equations across the
viscous sub-layer. High-Reynolds-number models that
rely on the log-law to prescribe wall boundary condi-
tions are inappropriate, while low-Reynolds-number
models that also integrate the dissipation rate equation
across the wall sub-layer require the use of finer near-
wall meshes and are consequently more expensive to
employ. The objectives of the experimental work are to
improve our understanding of the heat and fluid flow
processes and to provide reference data for the valida-
tion of numerical flow solvers. The primary aim of the
numerical work is to provide further detailed informa-
tion on the local flow field, which would supplement the
LDA data. A further aim is to assess the predictive ef-
fectiveness of the 2-layer models of turbulence at effec-
tive-viscosity and second-moment closure levels for such
cooling flows.
2. Experimental apparatus and instrumentation
The data presented here formed part of a more ex-
tensive study through passages under rotating as well as
stationary conditions. Consequently the experiments
were undertaken in a rotating water-loop facility, more
extensively described in earlier papers from the group
(e.g. [10]). Briefly, a horizontal rotating motor-driven
table is mounted within a stationary 1.22 m diameter
tank. Water is circulated in a closed-loop system, being
first metered in a straight section containing an orifice
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H. Iacovides et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 27 (2003) 283–294
Fig. 2. Experimental model: (a) experimental apparatus and (b) arrangement of liquid crystals.
plate before arriving through a vertical pipe at the centre
of the rotating table, whence it enters an internal pas-
sage through which it is ducted to the U-bend, Fig. 2.
The duct cross section is 50 mm square with the two
walls parallel to the rotation axis being roughened with
5.0 mm square ribs spaced 50 mm apart and oriented at
45° with the duct axis. Velocity-field data were obtained
by LDA employing a stationary fibre-optic probe
mounted above the rotating section, as described in [10].
The experimental uncertainty [6] was 3% of the bulk
velocity for the mean velocities, and turbulence intensi-
ties and 8% of the square of the bulk velocity for the
turbulent shear stress.
More recently the capability of the apparatus has
been extended to provide local wall heat transfer mea-
surements, using the steady state liquid crystal technique
[11,12]. The molecular structure of these crystals over a
certain temperature range depends on temperature.
Changes in molecular structure in turn affect the wave-
length of visible light absorbed by the liquid crystals and
hence, over this temperature interval, the colour of the
liquid crystals can be used to determine their tempera-
ture. The internal surfaces of the experimental model are
covered with a thin, 13 lm, electrically heated stainless
steel foil, which provides a constant-heat-flux thermal
boundary condition. This heating foil was selected be-
cause it is able to produce power density levels up to 80
kW/m2 , which preliminary calculations showed to be
necessary. A thin layer of thermochromic liquid crystals
is then applied over the surface of the heating foil. Once
steady thermal conditions are reached, the resulting
285
colour contours are also contours of known tem-
perature, determined through prior calibration, under
conditions of uniform wall heat flux. Electrical mea-
surements provide the wall heat flux, qw and, from the
overall energy balance, the fluid bulk temperature, TB ,
can also be determined:


dTB
mcp ¼ Pqw ð2:1Þ
dx
where m is the mass flow rate, x is the streamwise co-
ordinate and P the heated perimeter.
The local Nusselt number along each colour contour,
Nu, can then be calculated, since
qw D h
Nu  ð2:2Þ
kðTW  TB Þ
By repeating this procedure for a number of heating
rates, a detailed mapping of the local Nusselt number
over a heated surface can be constructed.
In this study, only the two ribbed walls were heated.
The liquid crystals used, manufactured by Merck, were
micro-encapsulated, with a nominal colour-change band
between 29.5 and 31 °C for the entire visible spectrum
and a nominal change of 0.1 °C across the yellow colour,
which was used to determine the wall temperature. Al-
though ‘‘encapsulated’’, the liquid crystals proved to be
seriously affected by water, resulting in unclear images.
Accordingly, a liquid crystal coating was sprayed di-
rectly onto the Perspex side-walls which was then cov-
ered by black ink and then the stainless steel heating foil
was affixed with double-sided adhesive tape. The crystals
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286 H. Iacovides et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 27 (2003) 283–294

thus, as shown in Fig. 2(b), were enveloped between the Continuity:

heating foil and the perspex wall and were consequently o
protected from exposure to water. As also shown in Fig. ðqUi Þ ¼ 0: ð3:1Þ
oxi
2(a), the colour play of the liquid crystals was viewed
externally through the Perspex walls and was recorded Momentum transport:

 
using a CCD camera that was connected to a PC. The o oP o oUi oUj
illumination, necessary for the colour contours to be- ðqUi Uj Þ ¼  þ l þ  qui uj
oxj oxi oxj oxj oxi
come visible, was provided by two power-efficient
ð3:2Þ
halogen lambs on either side of the camera. Each image
covered a patch approximately 100 mm square. Energy:
At each location five to six images were recorded,  
o o l oT
corresponding to thermally steady state conditions at ðqUj T Þ ¼  quj t ð3:3Þ
oxj oxj Pr oxj
different heating rates. The images were then digitised
and were then converted into a hue-saturation-and-in-
tensity format. Through software developed during the
course of these investigations, the pixels with a hue 3.2. Turbulence modelling equations
number corresponding to the yellow colour, and hence a
known temperature, were identified and their coordi- As mentioned in the introduction, two 2-layer models
nates were corrected to account for the distortion of the of turbulence have been used, an effective-viscosity
camera lens. The information from each image was thus model and a DSM. In the effective-viscosity model, the
reduced to provide the coordinates of the constant-wall- standard k–e model, employed in most of the flow do-
temperature contour. The value of the Nusselt number main, is matched to WolfshteinÕs [13] 1-equation model
along the contour line was then calculated using Eqs. across the near-wall regions. This modelling approach
(2.1) and (2.2). Finally the contour lines produced by allows the resolution of the mean motion across the sub-
different heating rates were brought together and layer regions, but without the need for very fine grid
through interpolation the continuous variation of the resolutions associated with low-Reynolds-number
Nusselt number over the heated surface was produced. models, in which the dissipation rate equation is inte-
The copper ribs were affixed directly to the heating grated up to the wall. For the same reason, in the dif-
foil with a thin film of Araldite, which provided suffi- ferential stress model employed, while the transport
cient electrical resistance to electrically insulate the ribs equations for the turbulence stresses are integrated up to
from the heating foil, but negligible thermal resistance. the wall, the near-wall dissipation rate of turbulence is
The thermal energy generated electrically below each rib again obtained from the wall distance.
thus was conducted to the rib and was then convected to
the flow. The high thermal conductivity of copper then 3.2.1. k–e/1-equation model
ensured that the ribs effectively reached an isothermal The turbulent stresses and turbulent heat fluxes are
state, their temperature being at the level required to obtained from


cause convective heat transfer to the passing water at the 2 oUi oUj
qui uj ¼ kdij  lt þ ð3:4Þ
same rate as heat entered via the surface in contact with 3 oxj oxi
the foil. For further details the reader is referred to [11].
The experimental uncertainty in the local Nusselt lt oT
ui t ¼  ð3:5Þ
number was estimated [11] to be 8% and that of the side- rT oxi
averaged Nusselt number at 3.8%. The analysis took into The high-Re k–e in the fully turbulent core consists of
account uncertainties in the determination of the wall the following equations:
and inlet temperatures, the location of the colour con- 
 
tours, the electrical current, variations in the thickness o o l ok
ðqUj kÞ ¼ lþ t þ Pk  qe ð3:6Þ
and resistivity of the heating foil, the mass flow rate and oxj oxj rk oxj
the duct diameter. Preliminary tests showed that heat

losses contributed to an uncertainty of well below 1%. oUi
Pk ¼ qui uj ð3:7Þ
oxj

 
3. The numerical solver o o lt oe e e2
ðqUj eÞ ¼ lþ þ ce1 Pk  qce2
oxj oxj re oxj k k
3.1. Mean flow equations ð3:8Þ

All the equations are presented in Cartesian tensor k2

lt ¼ qcl ð3:9Þ
notation. e
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H. Iacovides et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 27 (2003) 283–294 287

In the 1-equation model, the k-transport equation is the the turbulent stresses which, as shown in Eq. (3.16), is
same as Eq. (3.6) for the high-Re k–e, while the dissi- assumed to be isotropic when the flow is fully turbulent
pation rate, e, and the turbulent viscosity, lt , are ob- and proportional to the ratio ui uj =k at the wall. The
tained from function fe is zero when the flow is fully turbulent and
one at the wall.
k 3=2
e¼ ð3:10Þ

‘e oUj oUi
Pij ¼  ui uk þ uj uk ð3:15Þ
and oxk oxk
pffiffiffi
lt ¼ qcl ‘l k ð3:11Þ 2 ui uk
eij ¼ ð1  fe Þedij þ fe e ð3:16Þ
The length scales ‘e and ‘l are obtained from the near- 3 k
wall distance Y , according to The term uij , given in Eq. (3.17), represents the redis-
‘e ¼ 2:55Y ½1  expð0:263y Þ

ð3:12Þ tribution of turbulent energy among the different com-

ponents of the Reynolds stress tensor due to fluctuations
‘l ¼ 2:55Y ½1  expð0:016y
Þ ð3:13Þ in the pressure and strain fields. The first two terms
denote a linear return to isotropy and isotropisation of
The dimensionless distance y
is defined as y
 Yk 1=2 =v.
production respectively. They are also present in the
widely used high-Re version of the DSM closure. Terms
3.2.2. 2-layer differential stress model
uwij1 and uwij2 , given in Eqs. (3.18) and (3.19), are the
The DSM closure employed here is a rather simple
conventional wall reflection terms, proposed by Gibson
and empirically derived extension to the basic DSM
and Launder [17], to model the ‘‘wall-echo’’ part of the
model, that relies on the linear terms for the redistri-
pressure strain correlation, which, near solid surfaces,
bution of turbulence and uses the wall-reflection terms
removes kinetic energy from the fluctuating component
to reproduce the preferential damping of turbulence in
normal to the wall and redistributes in the other two
the direction normal to the wall. It has evolved from the
directions. They have been devised for the fully turbu-
low-Re algebraic stress closure (ASM) proposed by I-
lent region of a flow over a plane wall and make use of
acovides and Launder [14], which was initially applied
the wall distance xn and the unit vector normal to the
to flow and heat transfer through U-bends of mild
wall n.
curvature. The low-Re ASM closure was subsequently



extended by Iacovides and Toumpanakis [15] to DSM e 2 2
closures which were initially applied to the computation uij ¼ c1 ui uj  kdij  c2 Pij  Pk dij
k 3 3
of turbulent flows through rotating cavities. This DSM 
closure has also been recently applied by Iacovides and þ fw uwij1 þ uwij2 ð3:17Þ
Raisee [9] to the computation of flow and heat transfer

through ribbed passages with ribs normal to the flow e 3 3
uwij1 ¼ cw1 uk um nk nm dij  uk ui nk nj  uk uj nk ni
direction and also by Nikas and Iacovides [16] to the k 2 2
computation of flow and heat transfer through U-bends
1:5 
k
of strong curvature. The low-Re terms, constants and  ð3:18Þ
ec‘ xn
damping functions have been determined with reference


to fully developed pipe flow and have not been changed w e 3 3
in any of the subsequent applications. uwij2 ¼ c2 ukm2 nk nm dij  uik2 nk nj  ujk2 nk ni
k 2 2
Instead of the effective viscosity approximation, Eq.
1:5 
k
(3.4), the turbulent stresses are now obtained through  ð3:19Þ
the solution of separate transport equations, represented ec‘ xn
by Eq. (3.14). where

 

o   o lt oui uj 2
qUk ui uj ¼ lþ þ Pij  qeij uij2 ¼ c2 Pij  Pk dij ð3:20Þ
oxk oxk rk oxk 3
 
1
þ uij  Hij  Hkk dij þ Jij ð3:14Þ Within the viscous sub-layer the wall reflection terms are
3
damped through the function fw . Their task within the
As in the k and e transport equations, the transport of viscous sub-layer is then performed by ðHij  Hkk dij =3Þ,
the turbulent stresses due to turbulent mixing is mod- where Hij is given by Eq. (3.21). The contribution of this
elled through the effective diffusivity concept. The term term is more extensively discussed in [18]. It represents a
Pij denotes the generation rate of the turbulent stresses relatively simple way of achieving approximately the
and is obtained through the exact expression given in correct distribution of the Reynolds stresses across the
Eq. (3.15). The term eij denotes the dissipation rate of viscosity-affected sub-layer.
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288 H. Iacovides et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 27 (2003) 283–294

pffiffiffi pffiffiffi pffiffiffi pffiffiffi !

v o ko k o ko k
Hij ¼ fH ui u‘ þ uj u‘ ð3:21Þ
k ox‘ oxj ox‘ oxi

The term Jij , given in Eq. (3.22), increases the sensitivity

of the model to the effects of low mean flow Reynolds
number.


oUi oUj
Jij ¼ fJ k þ ð3:22Þ
oxj oxi
The turbulent heat fluxes are obtained through the
generalised gradient diffusion hypothesis, given by Eq.
(3.23).
k oT Fig. 3. Body-fitted grid.
ui t ¼ qcT ui uj ð3:23Þ
e oxj
In the fully turbulent region, e is obtained from the same
geometries, but with ribs normal to the flow direction,
equation used in the high-Re k–e model, Eq. (3.8). In the
this grid is sufficiently fine to minimise numerical error.
near-wall region, e is obtained from the wall distance, as
Constant wall heat flux thermal boundary conditions
in the Woolfshtein model [13], but with
were imposed along the two ribbed walls of the duct and
‘e ¼ 2:55Y ½1  expð0:236y
Þ ð3:24Þ adiabatic conditions long the two smooth walls. The
The damping functions that appear in Eqs. (3.16)–(3.22) surfaces of each rib, in order to be consistent with the
depend on the dimensionless wall distance y
and have experimental conditions, were maintained at a constant
the following expressions: temperature. The temperature of each rib was then de-
termined by requiring that the total heat flux from the
fe ¼ expðy
=3Þ ð3:25Þ
three surfaces of each rib exposed to the cooling fluid is
fw ¼ ½1  expð0:12y
Þ½1 þ expð0:03y
Þ ð3:26Þ the same as the total heat flux that crosses from the
heated wall into the rib. Further details can be found in
fJ ¼ 0:06 expðy
=3Þ ð3:27Þ [8,9,20].

fH ¼ ð10:2 þ 7:5y
Þ expðy
=20Þ ð3:28Þ
The other modelling constants that appear in the pre-
ceding equations have the values given in Table 1.
3.3. Numerical aspects
The calculations presented here have been carried out
using the STREAM code, which employs general
non-orthogonal coordinates, with a Cartesian velocity
decomposition. A bounded version of the upstream
quadratic interpolation scheme, QUICK, described
elsewhere [19], was employed for the discretization of
convection in all transport equations. A single rib in-
4. Results and discussion
The measured velocity profiles, shown in Fig. 4, re-
veal that along the lower smooth wall (traverse lines AA0
and BB0 ), where the upstream roots of the inclined ribs
are located, the fluid tends to move from the centre of
the duct towards the ribbed walls, leading to a fairly
uniform distribution of the axial velocity across the
duct. This phenomenon is reversed along the upper
smooth wall (traverse lines EE0 and FF0 ), where the
downstream roots of the ribs are located. Here there is a
cross-duct motion from the ribbed walls towards the
terval was resolved using a 74  62  60 body-fitted duct centre, which in turn causes strong non-uniformi-
mesh, which, as can be seen in Fig. 3, allows a more ties in the streamwise motion. The faster fluid accumu-
efficient resolution of the near-wall regions. Repeating lates at the duct center, leaving the slower fluid along the
flow boundary conditions were imposed. The y
value of ribbed walls. Computed vector plots of the motion
the near-wall nodes was kept, in all computations, to within cross-duct planes parallel to the inclined ribs,
levels of about 1. As shown by Iacovides [8] in an earlier shown in Fig. 5, reveal that the inclined ribs induce a
study, flow and heat transfer through passages of similar secondary motion parallel to these ribs. Fluid is trans-

Table 1
Turbulence modelling constants
cl rk re ce1 ce2 c1 c2 cw1 cw2 cT rT
0.1 1 1.22 1.44 1.92 1.8 0.6 0.5 0.3 0.32 0.9
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H. Iacovides et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 27 (2003) 283–294
Fig. 4. Measured mean velocity field along indicated traverse lines (Re ¼ 100,000).
ferred along the ribbed walls from the lower to the upper
smooth wall, and it is then returned to the lower smooth
wall, through the center of the duct. This rib-induced
secondary motion, produced by the computations, is
consistent with the measured mean flow development
shown in Fig. 4. A comparison between the DSM and
k–e generated vector plots at section b–b shows that
both models return the same secondary motion features,
but some differences can also be seen, mainly near the
smooth side that encloses the upstream ends of the in-
clined ribs. The computed vector plots of the streamwise
motion (Fig. 6) show that a consequence of this rib-in-
duced motion is that along the lower smooth wall, sec-
tion a–a, there is an intense separation bubble after the
upstream root of each rib, followed by re-attachment
and strong flow acceleration. Along the upper smooth
wall, section d–d, the reverse flow after the downstream
root of each rib is weak and after re-attachment the
streamwise velocity remains low. This gradual weaken-
ing of the separation bubble from the lower to the upper
smooth wall has also been confirmed by flow visualiza-
tion tests, not presented here.
Comparisons between the computed and measured
axial and cross-duct velocity components along the mid-
way plane are shown in Fig. 7. They reveal that both
components of the mean velocity are well reproduced by
the two 2-layer models employed in this study. This is
consistent with the findings of our earlier studies [8] of
289
flows through ducts with ribs normal to the flow direc-
tion and increases confidence in the conclusions reached
from the discussion of Figs. 5 and 6. There is practically
no difference between the predictions of the two models
at the two monitoring locations in Fig. 7. This is con-
sistent with the comparisons of Fig. 5.
Similar comparisons for the turbulence field, are
shown in Fig. 8. The experimental data show that the
levels of turbulence intensity are considerably higher
than those found in smooth ducts, but similar to those
that we previously measured in straight ducts with
normal ribs. Above the surface of each rib the data show
that while both the measured components of the tur-
bulence intensity rise, the streamwise component is sig-
nificantly higher and also higher than what was
previously measured in ducts with normal ribs. Another
difference with the measured turbulence field in ducts
with normal ribs is that in the case of the 45°-ribs tur-
bulence intensities at the duct centre are higher. This
must be a consequence of the stronger mixing caused by
the rib-induced secondary motion. The profiles of the
measured shear stress show that the highest levels occur
close to the rib surface and that the shear stress changes
sign three times across the duct. Both computations
reproduce the overall levels of turbulence intensity but,
fail predict the very high levels of streamwise turbulence
intensity measured over the top surface of the ribs. The
differences in the intensity predictions of the two models
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290 H. Iacovides et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 27 (2003) 283–294

Fig. 5. Computed rib-induced secondary motion (Re ¼ 100,000).

Fig. 6. Computed streamwise velocity fields (Re ¼ 100,000).

are rather small, especially for the streamwise compo-
nent. The 2-layer k–e model generally under-predicts
shear stress levels especially at the duct center. The 2-
layer DSM fails to return the correct sign of the tur-
bulent shear stress at the duct centre, but does produce
the correct shear stress distribution over the top of the
ribs.
As far as the local Nusselt number is concerned, the
measured contours in Fig. 9 show minor differences in
the local variation over successive rib intervals and sig-
nificant spacial variation along the ribbed wall. Behind
(downstream of) each rib, Nusselt number levels are
high after the upstream root of the rib and remain high
up to the mid-way plane. Between the mid-way plane
and the downstream rib root, the Nusselt number be-
hind each rib is considerably lower. Over the second
half of the rib interval, between the lower smooth wall
and the mid-way plane, the Nusselt number falls to a
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H. Iacovides et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 27 (2003) 283–294 291

Fig. 7. Comparisons between computed and measured mean velocity profiles along the duct mid-plane (Re ¼ 100,000; X and Y as in Fig. 1;
––: 2-layer DSM, - - -: 2-layer k–e).

Fig. 8. Comparison between measured and computed profiles of turbulent stresses along the duct mid-plane (Re ¼ 100,000; ––: 2-layer DSM,
- - -: 2-layer k–e).

Fig. 9. Comparison between measured and computed Nusselt number contours over the rib interval (Re ¼ 36,000 and Pr ¼ 5:9).
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292 H. Iacovides et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 27 (2003) 283–294
minimum level and then rises again just before the
downstream rib. Between the mid-way plane and the top
smooth wall, Nusselt number levels remain low. This
distribution of the local Nusselt number is consistent
with the measured and computed mean flow develop-
ments. A comparison between Figs. 6 and 9 in particu-
lar, shows that the high Nusselt number levels close to
the smooth wall associated with the upstream root of the
ribs are caused by the faster moving fluid and intense
separation bubble in this region (plane a–a in Fig. 6).
The low Nusselt levels close to the opposite smooth wall
are caused by the slow moving fluid and weak separa-
tion bubble along the smooth wall associated with the
downstream rib roots (section d–d in Fig. 6). The
spanwise variation in Nusselt number is thus caused by
the spanwise variation in streamwise velocity, which in
turn is caused by the rib-induced secondary motion. The
measurements also show a marked reduction in Nusselt
number along the spanwise direction from the lower to
the upper smooth wall. The 2-layer k–e computations
reproduce the overall Nusselt number variation, though
the overall levels measured are somewhat over-pre-
dicted. Most notable is the fact that the predicted high
Nusselt number region just before the downstream rib,
is considerably longer in the spanwise direction, ex-
tending from the lower smooth wall to almost as far as
the upper smooth wall. The Nusselt number distribution
returned by the 2-layer DSM is similar to that of the 2-
layer k–e model. Differences between the local Nusselt
number predictions of the two models are mainly con-
fined to the regions just after the upstream rib and just
before the downsream rib, where, in closer accord with
the measurements, the 2-layer DSM produces lower
Nusselt number levels than the 2-layer k–e model. An-
other important aspect of the comparison between both
sets of predictions and the measurements is that the
maximum Nusselt number levels near the corner with
Fig. 10. Comparison between the computed and measured distributions of the side-averaged Nusselt number (––: 2-layer1 DSM, - - -: 2-layer k–e).
the lower smooth wall are over-predicted, while the
minimum Nu levels near the corner with the upper-
smooth wall are under-predicted. This would suggest
that the secondary motion in these two corner regions is
over-predicted. It is possible that such a predictive de-
ficiency would arise from the use of 2-layer models,
which in the presence of flow separation would tend
to under-estimate the near-wall turbulence and hence
produce a stronger secondary motion. Two differences
emerge between the local Nusselt number comparisons
of the present study and those of our earlier studies re-
lated to passages with ribs normal to the flow direction.
With normal ribs the 2-layer models under-predicted the
Nusselt number and the differences between thermal
predictions of the 2-layer k–e and DSM models were
stronger. It would thus appear that in the presence of
flow separation and secondary motion (in this case in-
duced by the inclined ribs), the 2-layer models over-
predict somewhat the wall heat flux. Moreover, mean
flow effects such the rib-induced secondary motion ap-
pear to become more dominant in passages with inclined
ribs and consequently the effects of turbulence on heat
transfer, though still important, are less critical.
Finally Fig. 10 shows a comparison between the
measured and computed distributions of side-averaged
Nusselt number over the rib interval. The measured
distribution shows high levels over the first half of the
rib interval gently falling to a minimum level at about
three quarters of the way along and then again in-
creasing just before the downstream rib. The computa-
tions are in closer agreement with the data over the first
half of the rib interval, especially those of the 2-layer
DSM, though the actual levels are still over-predicted.
Over the second half of the rib interval Nusselt number
levels are more strongly over-predicted, especially with
the 2-layer k–e model, as also observed in the local
Nusselt number comparisons.
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H. Iacovides et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 27 (2003) 283–294
5. Practical usefulness
The focus of this investigation has been a complex,
three-dimensional internal cooling flow that is relevant
to the cooling of gas-turbine blades. This study helps to
improve our understanding of the flow and thermal
behaviour in these passages and it also establishes how
reliably these flow and thermal phenomena can be pre-
dicted using 2-layer models of turbulence. The mea-
surements and predictions reveal how the rib-induced
secondary motion redistributes the streamwise momen-
tum across ducts with inclined ribs and also how the
high turbulence levels generated by the rib-induced
separation are subsequently mixed by the secondary
motion. The effects of the fluid motion on the wall heat
transfer are also made clear through comparisons be-
tween the flow and thermal data. This information can
help blade designers identify potential weak spots and
remove them by modifying their design. With CFD
becoming widely used in engineering design, it is also
imperative to know how reliably flow solvers can re-
produce the flow and thermal development in passages
with real engine geometries. The present comparisons
between experimental data and numerical predictions
show that 2-layer models of turbulence, though not
100% accurate, certainly provide reasonable estimates of
the overall heat transfer levels and their spanwise vari-
ation.
6. Concluding remarks
The computations and measurements have shown
how the rib-induced secondary motion influences the
mean and turbulent flow fields and also the wall heat
transfer in flows through ducts with 45° ribs. The rib-
induced secondary motion creates strong spanwise
variation in the mean flow. High momentum fluid is
transported, through the duct core, towards the smooth
wall adjacent to the upstream roots of the inclined ribs
and the low momentum fluid accumulates along the
opposite smooth wall adjacent to the downstream rib
roots. As a result, behind each rib the separation bubble
is intense near the upstream root, with the intensity
falling towards the downstream root. Moreover, the
secondary motion leads to a uniform distribution of the
turbulence intensities across the duct. Another conse-
quence of the rib-induced secondary motion is the large
spanwise variation in the local Nusselt number along the
ribbed walls, with the higher levels encountered along
the corner with the smooth wall that contains the up-
stream rib roots.
The two 2-layer models of turbulence tested are
found to produce satisfactory mean flow predictions and
reasonable levels of turbulence intensities, which is
consistent with what was found in our earlier studies of
293
flow and heat transfer through ducts with normal ribs.
The local and the side-averaged Nusselt number distri-
butions returned by both models include the main fea-
tures present in the measurements, but actual levels are
over-predicted, especially over the downstream half of
the rib interval. The 2-layer DSM returns lower Nusselt
number levels on either side of each rib than the 2-layer
k–e, bringing the DSM predictions to somewhat closer
accord with the measured behaviour. The over-predic-
tion of wall heat transfer and also the relatively minor
differences in the thermal predictions of the two 2-layer
models are in contrast to the findings of our earlier
numerical studies for passages with ribs normal to the
flow direction. The latter suggests that the strong influ-
ence of the rib-induced secondary motion weakens the
influence of turbulence on the flow and thermal devel-
opment.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the
support and encouragement provided by Prof. B.E.
Launder. This research was sponsored by EPSRC, ABB,
EGT and Electricite de France and Rolls-Royce. Expert
technical assistance was provided by Mr D. Cooper and
Mr M. Jackson. AuthorsÕ names are listed alphabeti-
cally.
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