Local Convective Heat Transfer From a Constant Heat Flux Flat Plate Cooled by Synthetic Air Jets

The effects of a small-scale, rectangular synthetic air jet on the local convective heat transfer from a flat, heated surface were measured experimentally. The synthetic jet impinges normal to the surface and induces small-scale motions by zero-net mass flux, time-periodic entrainment, and ejection of ambient air at frequencies whose periods are far higher than the characteristic thermal time scale. The velocity field between the jet orifice and the target plate is measured in planar cross sections using particle image velocimetry and is related to the local heat transfer from the plate. The present work suggests that synthetic jets can lead to substantial enhancement of the local heat transfer from heated surfaces by strong mixing that disrupts the surface thermal boundary layer. The dependence of the local heat transfer coefficient on the primary parameters of jet motion is characterized over a range of operating conditions.