Conjugate heat transfer in turbulent pipe flow with azimuthally non-uniform heating
Abstract
Turbulent conjugate heat transfer (CHT) in pipes with azimuthally non-uniform heating is studied theoretically and numerically with a focus on low-Pr fluids. While the influence of the solid properties is well documented for uniform heat flux, their effect under azimuthally non-uniform heating has not been explored systematically. We address this gap by combining spectral analysis of the problem -- which reduces arbitrary boundary conditions to a discrete set of azimuthal wavenumbers -- with well-resolved numerical simulations of thermally and hydraulically fully developed turbulent pipe flow at Reτ≈ 180 for Pr = {0.025, 0.71}, representative of liquid metals and air. Two principal results emerge: (i) the global Nusselt number is independent of the azimuthal heat-flux distribution and exhibits only a minor dependence on the solid properties, resolving an open question for low-Prandtl-number fluids; (ii) CHT nevertheless strongly affects the azimuthally resolved mean temperature at low Pr, where azimuthal conduction in the solid homogenises the interface heat flux, and governs the level of temperature fluctuations through the effusivity ratio (thermal activity ratio) K. Finally, an analysis of the turbulent Prandtl number Prt shows a strong anisotropy, particularly near the wall, and a dependence on the azimuthal wavenumber.
Related
- Turbulent heat transfer and secondary flows in a non-uniformly heated pipe with temperature-dependent fluid properties
- Cova-PINN: Cross-Domain Conservation Physics-Informed Neural Network for Fluid-Solid Conjugate Heat Transfer in Complex Geometries
- Modelling friction and heat transfer in turbulent forced convection over porous lattices
- The effect of bubble induced turbulent structures on the mass transfer of non-spherical bubbles
- Large-Eddy Simulation of the Turbulent Flow and Heat Transfer in a Turbine Vane Model Cooled by Jet Impingement
BibTeX
@misc{neuhauser2026conjugate,
title = {{Conjugate heat transfer in turbulent pipe flow with azimuthally non-uniform heating}},
author = {Jonathan Neuhauser and Davide Gatti and Bettina Frohnapfel},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.12709},
eprint = {2610.12709},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.12709},
note = {CC BY-SA 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Conjugate heat transfer in turbulent pipe flow with azimuthally non-uniform heating
AU - Jonathan Neuhauser
AU - Davide Gatti
AU - Bettina Frohnapfel
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/08
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.12709
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.12709
AB - Turbulent conjugate heat transfer (CHT) in pipes with azimuthally non-uniform heating is studied theoretically and numerically with a focus on low-Pr fluids. While the influence of the solid properties is well documented for uniform heat flux, their effect under azimuthally non-uniform heating has not been explored systematically. We address this gap by combining spectral analysis of the problem -- which reduces arbitrary boundary conditions to a discrete set of azimuthal wavenumbers -- with well-resolved numerical simulations of thermally and hydraulically fully developed turbulent pipe flow at Re_τ≈ 180 for Pr = {0.025, 0.71}, representative of liquid metals and air. Two principal results emerge: (i) the global Nusselt number is independent of the azimuthal heat-flux distribution and exhibits only a minor dependence on the solid properties, resolving an open question for low-Prandtl-number fluids; (ii) CHT nevertheless strongly affects the azimuthally resolved mean temperature at low Pr, where azimuthal conduction in the solid homogenises the interface heat flux, and governs the level of temperature fluctuations through the effusivity ratio (thermal activity ratio) K. Finally, an analysis of the turbulent Prandtl number Pr_t shows a strong anisotropy, particularly near the wall, and a dependence on the azimuthal wavenumber.
ER -