Abstract
Matrix cooling is relatively newer cooling technique and preferred over the conventional rib turbulators or pin fin cooling due to its capacity to provide the structural rigidity and higher heat transfer enhancement. The present investigation addresses the detailed study of local and averaged heat transfer augmentation distributions within the sub-channels of matrixes with rib angle 35° and varying sub-channels aspect ratios using liquid crystal thermography. The effects of varying sub-channel aspect ratios 1.2, 0.8 and 0.4 on averaged Nusselt number augmentation, friction factor ratio and thermo-hydraulic performance factor have been also verified within the Reynolds numbers range 5800–14000. The flow trend within the sub-channels is typically found to be eccentric and attributed to the possible vortical flow within the sub-channels and this eccentricity reduces as the sub-channel aspect ratio decreases. Results have shown that the highest Nusselt number augmentation and the lowest friction factor ratio are obtained for the highest sub-channel aspect ratio i.e., the best thermo-hydraulic performance factor (≥ 1) has been found for sub-channel aspect ratio 1.2. The sub-channel aspect ratio is found to have significant effect on both Nusselt number augmentation and friction factor ratio as compared to Reynolds number.
