Chapter 8

Forced convection: External

ows
(Material presented in this chapter are based on those in Chapter 7, Funda-
mentals of Heat and Mass Transfer, Fifth Edition by Incropera and DeWitt)
Forced convection occurs when the relative motion between the uid and
the surface is maintained by external means such as a pump. In this chapter,
methods to calculate the heat and mass transport coecients to or from a
surface in external ow will be modeled and analyzed. For example, ow
past a at plate, ow over curved surface, such as a sphere, cylinder, airfoil
etc.
In all the examples presented in this chapter, unless otherwise mentioned,
the followings are assumed:
Boundary layers develop freely.
No constraints imposed by adjacent surfaces.
Fluids ow at speeds much lower than the speed of sound.
No phase change.
In the earlier chapter, it was shown that the local and average heat and
mass transfer coecients can be obtained from the following equations
Nu
x
= f(x

, Re
x
, Pr) (8.1)
Nu
x
= f(Re
x
, Pr) (8.2)
Sh
x
= f(x

, Re
x
, Sc) (8.3)
Sh
x
= f(Re
x
, Sc) (8.4)
125
126 CHAPTER 8. FORCED CONVECTION: EXTERNAL FLOWS
There are two methods to estimate the heat and mass transport coe-
cients, viz., empirical approach and theoretical approach. Both these meth-
ods will be discussed in the following sections.
8.1 Empirical approach
The empirical approach to estimate the convection heat transfer correlation
is illustrated in Fig. (8.1).
Figure 8.1: Experiment to estimate heat transfer coecient.
Consider the plate geometry as shown in Fig. (8.1). Heat the plate
electrically and maintain at T
s
> T

. Convection heat transfer occurs from

the surface to the surrounding uid owing at velocity u

and temperature
T

. Measure the surface and the uid stream temperatures. Energy balance
suggests that

h
L
=
I E
A
s
(T
s
T

)
(8.5)
Using the physical properties of the plate, dimensionless numbers Nu, Re,
Pr can be estimated. Repeat the experiments many number of times and
make a plot between log(Nu
L
) and log(Re
L
) for various Pr. The typical
non-dimensional form for Nu
L
number is
Nu
L
= CRe
m
L
Pr
n
(8.6)
The slope and intercept of the log-log plot will provide an estimate of the
constants in Eq. (8.6). Same result can be obtained by make a plot between
8.2. THEORETICAL APPROACH 127
log(
Nu
L
Pr
n
) and log(Re
L
). (Note that all the properties are evaluated at T
f
=
Ts+T
2
.
Similar experiments to measure convection mass transfer correlations can
be performed and it will be of the form
Sh
L
= CRe
m
L
Sc
n
(8.7)
8.2 Theoretical approach
Theoretical approach involves the representation of the boundary layer be-
havior in the mathematical form (model) and solving the model to obtain the
analytical expressions for heat transfer coecient. This method is feasible
only for certain geometry and under certain conditions. One such a case is
the at plate in parallel ow.
8.2.1 Flat plate in parallel ow
Consider an incompressible uid owing over a at plate, maintained at tem-
perature T
s
under laminar ow, steady state conditions (Fig. 8.2). Assume
the uid properties to be constant, that is conditions in velocity boundary
layer are independent of temperature and concentration. Therefore
dP
dx
= 0.
The governing equations for this system are
Figure 8.2: Flat plate in parallel ow.
u
x
+
u
y
= 0 (8.8)
_
u
u
x
+ v
u
y
_
=

2
u

y
2
(8.9)
_
u
T
x
+ v
T
y
_
=

2
T
y
2
(8.10)
u

A
x
+ v

A
y
= D
AB

2
C
A
y
2
(8.11)
the appropriate boundary conditions are
u(x, 0) = v(x, 0) = 0; u(x, ) = u

; (8.12)
128 CHAPTER 8. FORCED CONVECTION: EXTERNAL FLOWS
T(0) = T
s
; T() = T

; (8.13)

A
(0) =
A,s
;
A
() =

(8.14)
The solution for the velocity in the velocity boundary layer is indepen-
dent of the temperature and concentration. Whereas the temperature in the
thermal boundary layer and the concentration in the concentration boundary
layer depends on the velocity. Hence velocity can be solved separately and
incorporated into the concentration and temperature equations to nd the
temperature and concentration proles.
Method of Blasius
The method adapted solve for the velocity in the velocity boundary layer is
after Blasius pioneering work. This method uses the streamline functions,
that is,
u =

y
; v =

x
(8.15)
, similarity variables
= y
_
u

x
(8.16)
and the function
f() =

u

_
x
u
(8.17)
Equation (8.13) ensures that the continuity equation (Eq. 8.8) is naturally
satised. Note that the prole of
u
u
is geometrically similar at any distance
x, that is,
u
u

=
_
y

u
u

= () (8.18)
when =
_
x/u

.
Substituting Eqs (8.13) - (8.15) into the model equations (Eqs 8.8 - 8.9)
leads to
2

3
f

3
+ f

2
f

2
= 0 (8.19)
and the appropriate boundary conditions are
df
d
|
=0
= f(0) = 0;
df
d
|
=
= 1 (8.20)
8.2. THEORETICAL APPROACH 129
Equations (8.17 - 8.18) can be solved either numerically or using series
solution. (Note that standard tables for f,
df
d
,
d
2
f
d
2
.) Based on the numerical
solution, it can be found that boundary layer thickness is reached at = 5,
that is, when
u
u
= 0.99. Therefore, the boundary layer thickness is given by
=
5.0
_
u
x
=
5.0x

Re
x
(8.21)
which suggests that increases as x increases and increases. Whereas,
decreases as u

increases, that is, faster the smaller, smaller is the boundary

layer.
Friction factor coecient
Friction factor coecient given by Eq. (7.46) is
C
f,x
=

s,x
u
2

/2
=

u
y
|
y=0
u
2

/2
= 0.664u

x = 0.664Re

1
2
x
(8.22)
Temperature prole in the thermal boundary layer
Introducing the non-dimensional quantity T

=
TTs
TTs
, the temperature
equation (Eq. 8.10) becomes
d
2
T

d
2
+
Pr
2
f
dT

d
= 0 (8.23)
subject to the boundary conditions
T

(0) = 0; T

() = 1 (8.24)
Solving the above equations numerically, it has been found that for Pr
0.6,
dT

d
|
=0
= 0.332Pr
1
3
(8.25)
and the heat transfer coecient is given by
h(x) =
k
T
y
|
y=0
T
s
T

= k
_
u

x
_1
2 T

|
=0
(8.26)
130 CHAPTER 8. FORCED CONVECTION: EXTERNAL FLOWS
Nusselt number Nu for Pr 0.6 can be written as
Nu =
h(x)x
k
= 0.332Re
1
2
x
Pr
1
3
= f(Re
x
)Pr
1
3
(8.27)
and the ratio of the velocity to thermal boundary layer thicknesses is given
by

t
= Pr
1/3
(8.28)
Concentration prole in the concentration boundary layer
Introducing the non-dimensional quantity

=
s
s
, the temperature equa-
tion (Eq. 8.11) becomes
d
2

d
2
+
Sc
2
f
d

d
= 0 (8.29)
subject to the boundary conditions

(0) = 0;

() = 1 (8.30)
Solving the above equations numerically, it has been found that for Sc
0.6,
d

d
|
=0
= 0.332Sc
1
3
(8.31)
and the mass transfer coecient is given by
h
m
(x) =
D
AB

y
|
y=0

= D
AB
_
u

x
_1
2

|
=0
(8.32)
Sherwood number Sh for Sc 0.6 can be written as
Sh =
h
m
(x)x
D
AB
= 0.332Re
1
2
x
Sc
1
3
= f(Re
x
)Sc
1
3
(8.33)
and the ratio of the velocity to concentration boundary layer thicknesses is
given by

c
= Sc
1/3
(8.34)
8.2. THEORETICAL APPROACH 131
Observations
The shear stress,
s,x
, heat transfer coecient h(x), and the mass transfer
coecient h
m
(x) are innite at the leading edge of the at place and decreases
as
1

x
.
For gases, the exponent n 1. Due to Eqs (8.26) and (8.32), all three
boundary layers grow nearly identical and their thicknesses are nearly equal.
8.2.2 Flat plate: Average quantities
If x is the critical distance up to which laminar ow occurs, then the average
friction factor coecient is given by

C
f,x
=

s,x
u
2

/2
=
1
x
x
_
0

s,x
dx
u
2

/2
=
1
x
x
_
0
0.664Re

1
2
x
dx = 1.328Re

1
2
x
(8.35)
Similarly, average Nusselt number is given by
Nu
x
=

h
x
x
k
= 0.664Re
1
2
x
Pr
1
3
= 2Nu
x
forPr 0.6 (8.36)
and average Sherwood number is given by
Sh
x
=

h
m,x
x
D
AB
= 0.664Re
1
2
x
Sc
1
3
= 2Sh
x
forSc 0.6 (8.37)
Note that average Nusselt or Sherwood numbers is equal to twice the local
Nusselt or Sherwood numbers.
8.2.3 Flat plate: Pr 0.6 case
If Pr 0.6, which is typically for the case of liquid metals, a uniform velocity
prole in the velocity boundary layer can be assumed as
t
. Under these
conditions, the local Nusselt number is given by
Nu
x
= 0.565Re
1
2
x
Pr
1
2
(8.38)
Similar expression for the case of Sc 0.6 can be obtained.
132 CHAPTER 8. FORCED CONVECTION: EXTERNAL FLOWS
For all values of Pr, the general expression for Nu when Pe = RePr
100 is given by
Nu
x
=
0.3387Re
1
2
x
Pr
1
3
_
1 +
_
0.0468
Pr
_2
3
_1
2
(8.39)
and the corresponding average quantity is given by
Nu
x
= 2Nu
x
(8.40)