Abstract
The convective heat transfer of pressurized airflow in a radially rotating serpentine channel inside porous aluminum material is examined experimentally. The most important governing parameters are the Prandtl number, the Reynolds number for forced convection, the rotation number for the Coriolis force-induced cross stream secondary flow and the Grashof number for natural convection. This work maintains the parameters of the test rig at approximately the values of those in a real engine, to simulate the operating conditions of a real gas turbine. The local heat transfer rates for radially rotating serpentine channels with porous aluminum foams were measured and compared with those of staggered half-V ribbed and smooth walls in previous literature. This paper investigates the heat transfer capability of porous aluminum foams in rotating channels. © 2004 Elsevier Science Ltd.