Experimental Investigation of Temperature Distribution in a Laminar Boundary Layer over a Heated Flat Plate with Localized Transverse Cold Air Injections

Abstract

This study presents an experimental investigation focused on the interaction between a transverse injection of cold air (blowing) and the boundary layer over a heated flat plate. The flat plate was equipped with a cylindrical coil heater positioned at its center along the flow direction. The constant heat flux was maintained using a variable resistance potentiometer. The flat plate with the heater was mounted inside a subsonic wind tunnel to sustain a constant laminar air flow. The primary objective of this research was to examine the effects of cold air injections through localized holes in the flat plate near the trailing edge on the thermal boundary layer thickness δt(x,Rex,Pr). The thermal boundary layer thickness was measured using K-type thermocouples and PT-100 RTD sensors, which are made to move precise, small distances using a specially constructed traversing mechanism. Cold air was injected using purposefully fabricated metal capillary tubes force-fitted into holes through the hot flat plate. The metal tubes were thermally insulated using class-F insulation, which is used in electric motor windings. The presented work focused on a fixed free-stream velocity and a fixed cold-injection velocity less than the free-stream velocity but for two-variable heat fluxes. The results show that the thermal boundary layer thickness generally increased due to the secondary cold flow.

Keywords

• heat transfer
• boundary layer
• laminar flow
• heated flat plate
• thermal boundary layer thickness
• Rayleigh number