Jet array impingement heat transfer in a rectangular cavity with effusion holes

Various researchers have studied jet array impingement heat transfer in impingement/effusion cooling systems. However, there is a lack of research on impingement/effusion cooling systems installed within rectangular cavities that focus on the impact of the proximity of the jet hole to the cavity sidewalls on cooling performance. The main objective of this study is to investigate the flow and heat transfer characteristics of jet array impingement with effusion holes in a rectangular cavity, considering various spacings between the cavity sidewalls and the outermost jet hole. The design parameters in this study include the ratio of the jet hole pitch to jet hole diameter of 7.1, 10.0, and 16.7, and the ratio of the distance between the jet and impingement plates to jet hole diameter of 2, 6, and 10, with the Reynolds number based on the jet hole diameter ranging from 2500 to 15,000. Heat transfer characteristics in the stagnation region and wall jet region were examined using local Nusselt number distributions on the impingement surface, measured by liquid crystal thermography. The local Nusselt number was high in the stagnation region and decreased radially from the stagnation region as the wall jet region formed. The closer the outermost jet hole is to the sidewall, the higher the Nusselt number on the impingement surface near the sidewall. Moreover, the flow structure in the rectangular cavity was numerically investigated, and the velocity vectors and streamlines showed that primary and secondary vortices were generated in the middle of two neighboring jets and near the sidewall, respectively. This study also assessed previous average Nusselt number correlations. Based on experimentally determined average Nusselt number data with 54 center unit cells and 1296 side unit cells, new correlations to predict the average Nusselt number on the impingement surface in a rectangular cavity with effusion holes were developed.