A numerical study of a three‐dimensional turbulent flow in a rectangular T‐bifurcating duct was performed. It focused on the analysis of heat transfer in the branching duct at 90 to the main flow. Including separation and reattachment phenomena, the flow seemed to be anisotropic. The closure system of the full set of Navier–Stokes equations governing the flow was based on the on one point statistical modeling using a low Reynolds number second‐order full stress transport model. For several aspect ratios, results show that in addition to the recirculation zone in the branching duct close to the upstream side; pairs of streamwise vortices were generated downstream of the junction zone with their centers moving towards the symmetry plane. The effect of the aspect ratio of the branching section in enhancing this phenomenon and flow rate effect on the heat transfer were particularly analyzed in this paper.
Both experimental and numerical studies of a turbulent flow in a bifurcating channel are performed to characterize the dynamical behavior of the flow and its impact on the convective heat transfer on the sides of the branch. This configuration corresponds to the radial vents placed in the stator vertically to the rotor–stator air gap in the electrical machines. Indeed, our analysis focuses on the local convective heat transfer on the vents internal surface under a turbulent mass flow rate. The flow field measurements were carried out with two components particle image velocimetry (PIV) system, and the local heat transfer on the sides of the bifurcation branch was measured using an infrared thermography device. The convective heat transfer and the flow dynamics through the geometry are investigated numerically considering a three-dimensional (3D) flow. The closure system of the Navier–Stokes equations for steady and incompressible flow is based on the low-Reynolds numbers Reynolds stress model (RSM) (RSM-stress-ω). The comparison of the 3D computed results with the measurements in the xy symmetry plane is satisfactory in the vertical and horizontal channels. The numerical prediction of the secondary flow in the vertical branch was analyzed and complements the experimental results. It was particularly noticed that the accelerated flow observed at the right side of the branch's inlet allows more pronounced heat transfer comparatively to the left side. Beyond approximately 7 hydraulic diameters from the entrance of the branch, the Nusselt number curves on the two sides of the branch tend to be the same developed Nusselt number, Nud.
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