Experimental Validation Data for CFD of Transient Convection from Forced to Natural with Flow Reversal on a Vertical Flat Plate

Authors

Blake W. Lance, Utah State University
Barton L. Smith, Utah State UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2015

Abstract

Transient convection was investigated experimentally for the purpose of providing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) validation data. A specialized facility for validation experiments called the Rotatable Buoyancy Tunnel was used to acquire thermal and velocity measurements of flow over a smooth, vertical heated plate. The initial condition was forced convection downward with subsequent transition to mixed convection, ending with natural convection upward after a flow reversal. Data acquisition through the transient was repeated for ensemble-averaged results. With simple flow geometry, validation data were acquired at the benchmark level. All boundary conditions (BCs) were measured and their uncertainties quantified. Temperature profiles on all four walls and the inlet were measured, as well as asbuilt test section geometry. Inlet velocity profiles and turbulence levels were quantified using Particle Image Velocimetry. System Response Quantities (SRQs) were measured for comparison with CFD outputs and include velocity profiles, wall heat flux, and wall shear stress. Extra effort was invested in documenting and preserving the validation data. Details about the experimental facility, instrumentation, experimental procedure, materials, BCs, and SRQs are made available through this paper. The latter two are available for download and the other details are included in this work.

Recommended Citation

Lance, Blake W. and Smith, Barton L., "Experimental Validation Data for CFD of Transient Convection from Forced to Natural with Flow Reversal on a Vertical Flat Plate" (2015). Engineering Datasets. Paper 2.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/engineering_datasets/2