Investigation of hydrodynamically and thermally developing forced convection heat transfer in a hexagonal duct

In this study three dimensional laminar forced convective flow and heat transfer in a hexagonal channel are investigated for three different fluids under hydrodynamically and thermally developing flow conditions. Three dimensional continuity, momentum and energy equations are solved numerically using commercial CFD code Ansys Fluent 6.3.26. Numerical study is carried out for Reynolds number range of 100 through 800. Air (Pr?0,7), water (Pr?7,6) and ethylene glycol (Pr?236) are used as working fluids. Fluid properties are taken as constant. Average Nusselt number and Darcy friction factors are presented as a function of Reynolds number. Local Nusselt numbers and Darcy friction factors are plotted as a function of distance along the channel. Velocity and temperature profiles are presented along the channel for different conditions. Results obtained from numerical calculations for air, water and ethylene glycol are compared to each other. It is seen that recent results are compatible with the literature.