Triangular Fin Structure Lab Report

Table. 1 Design Consideration
Parameter Rectangular fin Triangular fin Trapezoidal fin
Length of the fin 150 mm 150 mm 150 mm
Breadth of the fin 75 mm 75 mm 75 mm
Base Thick. of the fin 3 mm 3 mm 3 mm
Tip Thick. of the fin 3 mm 0.5 mm 1.5 mm
Material Aluminium
Height of notch 20 mm 20 mm 20 mm
Length of notch 30 mm 30 mm 30 mm

Table. 1, gives the design dimentions of the three types of fins used in the experiment. For the present experiment four fins are arranged in an array format and the heat transfer rates for these fin arrays are calculated. The experimental result is then compared with the CFD result odtained by the ANSYS software.

4. Experimental Setup
The earlier studies have proved that there is better improvement in the fin performance

Here five thermocouples are used to measure the heat from the fin to the temperature indicator. After some time natural convection takes place in the fin arrays. The temperatureT1, T2, T3, T4, T5 are calculated, where T1 indicate the base plate temperature, T2, T3, T4, T5 are the fin tip temperatures. One end of the thermocouple is connected to the fins and other end is connected to the thermal indicator. The heater tempetureand the base temperature is maintained as 333K (60º C). This experiment is done for all the three type of fin arrays and the corresponding tempetature values are noted.
The average value is taken for the three fin structures and the heat transfer coefficient is calculated. After that the result is compared with the CFD result.
4.2 Meshed Model
Relevance centre: Fine
Min. Edge length: 2.0906e-004 m
Nodes: 36659
Elements: 17704

Figure. 6 Meshed model
Next all the three types of fin arrays are designed and simulated in the ANSYS CFD software. The meshing of the fin arrays in the ANSYS softwatre is shown in Fig. 6. The simulated results are then compared with the experimental results.

5. Results And Validation
5.1 Temperature Distribution In Rectangular Fin

Figure. 7 Temperature distribution in rectangular fin
Value : Temperature
Maximum : 60º C
Minimum : 43.896 º

9 shows the temperature distribution on the trapezoidal fin array system. From the above results the fin tip temperature was found to be nearly 43 º C. Figure. 10 Experimental heat transfer Figure. 11 Computational heat transfer coefficient values for three fins coefficient values for three fins
The experimental values of the three fin arrays are given in the graph above (Fig. 10). Triangular cross section fin array has the maximum heat transfer coefficient, followed by the trapezoidal and then the regular rectangular fin array. The ANSYS results shown in Fig. 11 done using the CFD coreleates the experimental results analysis. The comparison of both the experimental and computational results are given in the Fg. 12. Figure. 12 Comparision of heat transfer coefficient
6. Concluion
From the above software analysis and experimental results we can conclude that the heat transfer coefficient is maximum in case of triangular fins, followed by trapezoidal fins and last followed by rectangle fins with triangular notch. The above results are verified by both experimental and computational procedure. The same methodology of experimental investigation and computational analysis can be used for further studies of different types of fins and