Co. Olsson et B. Sunden, HEAT-TRANSFER AND PRESSURE-DROP CHARACTERISTICS OF 10 RADIATOR TUBES, International journal of heat and mass transfer, 39(15), 1996, pp. 3211-3220
The thermal and hydraulic performance of ten radiator tubes has been i
nvestigated. The tubes tested are one smooth tube, two rib-roughened t
ubes, five dimpled tubes and two offset strip fin tubes. The tubes are
representative of flat tube geometries applied in automotive heat exc
hangers, for example radiators. Isothermal pressure drop data were tak
en for Reynolds numbers in the range of 500-6000. These data are prese
nted as Fanning friction factors and inlet loss coefficients. Heal tra
nsfer data were taken in the same Reynolds number range and the result
s are presented as Colburn j factors, as well as Nusselt numbers. The
tubes are compared by considering the flow area goodness factor and th
e volume goodness factor. The rib-roughened tubes showed the best perf
ormance. The offset strip fin tube results could be correlated within
20% by correlations available in the literature. For all tubes, simple
correlations of the results are provided. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier
Science Ltd.