Heat transfer in the thermally developing region of a pulsating channel flow (Q1315787)

(From the authors' summary.) A study is made of the heat transfer characteristics of a fully-developed pulsating flow in a channel. Concern is directed to the thermally developing region. The unsteady Navier- Stokes equations are solved numerically to simulate a relatively slow throughflow at \(\text{Re}= 50\), \(\text{Pr}= 0.7\). At high pulsation frequencies, heat transfer is little affected by the addition of pulsation. Detailed analyses on local behaviour of heat transfer are made by using Fourier-series representations of the numerical results. These exercises indicate that, due to pulsation, both heat transfer enhancement and reduction can be expected in various axial locations of the channel. Based on these numerical results, physically plausible explanations are offered to interpret the axial behaviour of heat transfer.