Effect of Constant Heat Flux Boundary Condition on Wall Temperature Fluctuations

An experimental study of the wall temperature fluctuations under different thermal-wall boundary conditions was carried out. Statistics obtained from the experiments are compared with existing experimental and numerical data. The wall temperature fields are also examined in terms of the coherent thermal structures. In addition the effect of the thermal entrance region on the wall temperature distribution is also studied. For water flow in a flume and in a rectangular channel, the mean spacing of the thermal streaks does not depend on the thermal entrance length and on the type of thermal-wall boundary conditions. The wall temperature fluctuations depend strongly on the type of wall thermal boundary conditions. Overall, the picture that emerges from this investigation confirms the hypothesis that moderate-Prandtl-number heat transfer at a solid wall is governed by the large-scale coherent flow structures.