Heat transfer in micro and mini-scale ducts and channels is considered. In particular, issues of thermal performance are considered in systems with constant wall temperature at low to moderate Reynolds numbers or small dimensional scales which lead to conditions characteristic of thermally fully developed flows or within the transition region leading to thermally fully developed flows.An analysis of two approaches to representing experimental data is given. One using the traditional Nusselt number and another using the dimensionless mean wall flux. Both approaches offer a number of advantages and disadvantages. In particular, it is shown that while good data can be obtained which agree with predicted heat transfer rates, the same data can be problematic if one desires a Nusselt number. Other issues such as boundary conditions pertaining to measuring thermally developing and fully developed flow Nusselt numbers are also discussed in detail.
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