HEAT-TRANSFER IN A TUBE WITH PULSATING FLOW AND CONSTANT HEAT-FLUX

The problem of pulsatile flow in a tube with constant heat flux at the wall is considered analytically to determine how pulsation affects th e rate of heat transfer and how the phenomenon depends on the Prandtl number and on pulsation Frequency. The results indicate that in a rang e of moderate values of the frequency there is a positive peak in the effect of pulsation whereby the bulk temperature of the fluid and the Nusselt number are increased, but the effect is reversed when the freq uency is outside this range. The peaks are higher at lower Prandtl num bers. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.