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Bulletin of the JSME, Vol. 25, No.

204, June 1982 919

536.242::532.582 [ Paper No, 204—8 |


A4
Heat Transfer Around Tubes in In-line Tube Banks

lay
Shinya AIBA, Hajime TSUCHIDA and Terukazu OTA

An experimental study has been made to investigate heat transfer


and flow around tubes of in-line tube banks. Measurements were conducted
for seven cylinder spacings in the Reynolds number range from 1C)4 to
6xlC)4, It is found that the mean heat transfer coefficient shows no
essential variation with the cylinder spacing for the second and farther
downstream cylinders. The flow through the tube bank deflects in the
case of a very narrow cylinder spacing and the heat transfer behaviors
under such situations are clarified.

Key Words; Convective Heat Transfer, Heat Exchanger, In-line Tube Bank,
Circular Cylinder, Forced Convection Heat Transfer, Flow
Separation, Wake Flow

the in-line tube bank. The cross section of


1. Introduction the tube investigated was a circular cylin­
der. Cylinder spacings were varied from very
Recent energy crisis has been promoting narrow to relatively wide. The heat transfer
developments of high performance heat ex­ coefficient was measured along with the
changers for the effective use of energy. distributions of static pressures, mean ve­
Among a variety of heat exchangers, ones locities and turbulence intensities. Their
consisting of circular tubes possess several mutual correlations are discussed in detail
distinctive features such as the durability, in the present paper.
a low pressure loss and the structural
Nomenclature
simplicity. Many of previous works on tube
banks are mainly concerned with the overall cd : form drag coefficient = JoGpCos0dO
features of heat transfer and pressure pressure coefficient = (P-Pf)/|pU^
loss(1)-(6) , There have been few investiga­ cp :
tions on the heat transfer characteristics Cx, Cy ; longitudinal and transversal spac­
of individual cylinders in the tube banket, ings between cylinders’ centers
because of difficulty of measurements and of
complexity of the flow. Furthermore there d : cylinder diameter
have been few data on the tube bank of a d' : wake width
very narrow tube spacing.
Kostic et al.18) studied the heat trans­ n : longitudinal row number
fer and flow characteristics of two cylind­ Nu : Nusselt number
ers of in-line arrangement having relatively
wide cylinder spacings. However it is diffi­ p : static pressure
cult to estimate those of downstream cylind­ Q : supplied heat flow rate
ers in the tube bank from their results.
From this standpoint, the present au­ Re I Reynolds number = U-fcd/v
thors investigated, in detail, heat transfer s : heated surface area
and flow around three and four cylinders of
in-line arrangement^)-)) 2) go as to obtain T temperature
basic data on heat transfer of the in-line Tu : streamwise turbulence intensity
tube bank. Tube banks used in industries, =/^7uto
however, consist usually of many lines, and
the interactions from tubes in neighboring u : mean flow velocity
lines are considered to be very important. Uoo : upstream uniform flow velocity
The purpose of the present study was to
clarify the heat transfer characteristics of mean flow velocity at minimum clear­
ance = U»Cy/(Cy-d)

u' ; streamwise turbulent fluctuating ve­


locity
Received 5th Octorber, 1981.
Assistant Professor, Department of X,y : coordinates
Mechanical Engineering, Akita a ’ heat transfer coefficient
Technical College, Akita Oil
Research Assistant, Akita Technical 0 I circumferential angle from geometric
College forward stagnation point
Professor, Department of Mechanical A,v,p : thermal conductivity, Kinematic vis­
and Production Engineering, Akita
cosity and density of air at Too
University, Akita 010
Subscripts

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f forward, stagnation point velocities were measured with a constant


temperature hot-wire anemometer. The hot­
m ‘ mean wire used was a 0.005 mm tungsten wire
max ’ maximum having 1 mm effective length. Heat transfer
measurements were conducted by heating only
min : minimum the measured cylinder. On the other hand,
w I wall the cylinders were not heated in the mea­
surements of static pressure, velocity and
co * upstream uniform flow turbulence intensity. The Reynolds number Re
defined in terms of the mean velocity at the
2. Experimental Apparatus minimum clearance and the cylinder diameter
and Technique were varied from 104 to 6x1q4, and the
properties of air were estimated at the
In the present experiments are used two upstream uniform flow temperature T».
wind tunnels whose rectangular test sections
are 225 mm wide and 120 mm high ( the wind
3. Experimental Results
tunnel I ), and 225 mm wide and 160 mm high
and Discussion
( the wind tunnel II ) respectively. Side
walls of the test sections are built of 3.1 Heat transfer coefficient and
plexiglass in order to visualize the surface static pressure distribution
oil flow pattern. In-line tube banks ex­ The distributions of the local static
amined are schematically shown in Fig. 1. pressure coefficients Op and the Nusselt
All the cylinder diameters are 25 mm and numbers Nu0 are represented in Fig. 2(a) and
their spanwise length 225 mm. The non-dimen­ 2(b) for the case of 1.6 x 1.6 at Re =
sional cylinder spacings normal and parallel 4.1x10^, respectively. The results for the
to the upstream uniform flow direction are
Cy/d = 1.2 and Cx/d = 1.2 ( hereafter cylinder on the first row are nearly equal
to those for the single cylinder^), though
designated Cy/d x Cx/d for short ), 2.4 x
both the points Numqn and Cpmj_n shift down­
1.2, 2.4 x 2.4 with the wind tunnel I, and
stream. Those points and also the separation
also 1.6 x 1.6, 3.2 x 1.6, 3.2 x 3.2 with
one move farther downstream as the cylinder
the wind tunnel II. In the following, re­
spacing decreases, as clearly shown in Figs.
sults for 1.2 x 1.2 and 1.6 x 1.6 are mainly 3(a) and 3(b). Therefore the heat transfer
presented and discussed. The turbulence in­
tensity \fvP/'U<x> at the upstream uniform flow and flow characteristics of the first cylin­
der resemble those of a single cylinder
are 5 to 6% for the former cylinder spacing under a high blockage conditionl5)!14) . In the
and 2 to 3% for the latter respectively. present study on the tube bank, the Reynolds
For the heat transfer measurements, a
number is not formed with the upstream
stainless steel ribbon 0.05 mm thick, 20 mm
uniform flow velocity but with the mean
wide and 570 mm long was wound helically
velocity at the minimum clearance. Accord­
around the central section of a plexiglass
ingly, the heat transfer coefficient on the
tube, and was electrically heated. Thus the forward surface varies markedly with Cy/d at
present data were obtained under the con­
the same Reynolds number. This is a quite
dition of constant heat flux. The inside of
different trend from that of the single
the tube was filled with rigid urethane
cylinder. It results in a large variation of
foams in order to minimize the heat loss.
Num with the cylinder spacing for the first
The local heat transfer coefficient and cylinder ( see Fig. 9 ).
the corresponding Nusselt number are defined
As far as the cylinder on the second
respectively as follows.
row is concerned, the shear layer separated
a0 = Q/3(Tw-T; from the first cylinder attaches around 9 =
50° where Cp reaches a maximum, and Nu0
Nu0 = a0d/\
attains a maximum at about 9 = 60°. The base
These apparatus and technique for the heat pressure coefficient is high as compared
transfer measurements are almost the same as with that for other cylinders and it results
those in the previous studies by the present in a minimum of Cp.
authorsOHl 2) # The distribution profiles of Cp and Nu0
The surface pressure distributions were on the cylinders on the third and farther
measured at intervals of 10° with another downstream rows are generally similar to
cylinder of the same diameter having static each other. Cpmin locates at about 9 = 90°
pressure holes of 0.5 mm in diameter. The and the flow seems to separate at 9 = 110° to
mean and streamwise turbulent fluctuating 120°. Nu0 on the forward and rear surfaces
are large on the downstream rows, with
exception of the results for the seventh
cylinder.
The results for the cases of 2.4 x 1.2
and 3.2 x 1.6 show, in general, similar
trends to those for 1.6 x 1.6. In the cases
of 2.4 x 2.4 and 1.6 x 3.2, Numax on the
second cylinder locates at about 9 = 60°,
regardless of Re. However the local Nusselt
number distribution for the third and down­
stream cylinders resembles that for the
single cylinder. It may be due to a violent
turbulent mixing between the main flow and
Fig. 1 Arrangement of tube bank and the wake, since the streamwise cylinder
coordinate system spacing is relatively wide and this mixing

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Fig. 3 (a) Pressure distribution


( 1.2 x 1.2 )

Fig. 2 (a) Pressure distribution


( 1.6 x 1.6 )

Fig. 3 (b) Nusselt number distribution


( 1.2 x 1.2 )

-30° at which the shear layers separated


from the first cylinder attach to the second
Fig. 2 (b) Nusselt number distribution cylinder. The maximum value at 0 = -30° is
( 1.6 x 1.6 ) larger by about 1.5 times than that at 0 =
60°. Such a large difference between the two
maxima was also observed with the downstream
brings about the instability of the shear cylinders. The decrease of Nuq on the rear
layer separated at about 0 = 110° to 130°. surface of the seventh cylinder may be due
Similar behavior can be detected in the to a deflection of the flow behind it.
in-line tube bank at a cylinder spacing Similar results are obtained with the fourth
wider than 2.2'^). cylinders of the second and fourth lines in
Shown in Figs. 3(a) and 3(b) are the* the tube bank of 1.2 x 1.2.
results for a very narrow spacing, 1.2 x These facts mean that the flow through
1.2. Asymmetry of the distributions of Cp the tube bank deflects upwards entirely(16) .
and Nuq is very clear and such behavior is In in-row tubes of narrow spacing trans­
not found with other cylinder spacings ex­ versal to the upstream uniform flow direc­
amined in the present study. This asymmetry tion, the flow deflects(17H19) because of the
originates from a deflection of the flow mutual interference of the separated shear
through the tube bank. layer. Some bodies set behind the tubes seem
The first cylinder exhibits a behavior to suppress the flow def lection (16) . However
similar to that of a single cylinder placed in the present case of 1.2 x 1.2, the down­
in a high blockage tunnel. Numax shifts from stream cylinders may not be of use to the
the forward stagnation point. On the second suppression of the flow deflection because
cylinder, Nuq reaches maxima at 0 = 60° and of a very narrow spacing transversal to the

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Fig. 4 Variation of local Nusselt number Fig. 5 Variation of local Nusselt number
distribution with Reynolds number distribution with Reynolds number
( second cylinder ) ( fifth cylinder )

upstream uniform flow direction.


Variations of the local Nusselt number
distribution with the Reynolds number are
typically shown for the second and fifth
cylinders in Figs. 4 and 5 respectively. No
essential change of Nuq distribution profile
can be seen in these results, though the
difference between Numax and Nuf decreases
and the second peak of Nuq becomes clear
around e = 120° with Re. In the case of
1.2 x 1.2, the dependency of Nug on Re is
quite small, though the results are not
shown in the paper.
In the previous works on the in-line
tube bank by the present authors(lM2) , it is
found that there exists a critical Reynolds
number at which the heat transfer behavior
changes drastically in the narrow cylinder
spacing. Detailed measurements were made to
Fig. 6 Mean Nusselt number and local one
detect the existence of such a critical
at forward stagnation point
Reynolds number for the tube bank of a very
( 1.6 x 1.6 )
narrow cylinder spacing such as 1.2 x 1.2
and 2.4 x 1.2. In the present Reynolds
number range studied, however, no critical the whole circumference because of its asym­
Reynolds number was observed. This may be metry, as noted previously. Num becomes
due to the very narrow transversal cylinder maximum for the second cylinder. It may be
spacing, which brings about a mutual inter­ originated from a flow of very high velocity
ference between the separated shear layers between two cylinders in the first row as
resulting in an increase of their instabili­ discussed later. This behavior is different
ties . from that in the case of 1.6 x 1.6 shown
Fig. 6 represents the variation of Num before. The results of Num for other cylin­
with Re in the case of 1.6 x 1.6. It can be der spacings ( 1.2 x 2.4, 1.6 x 3.2 and
found that the variation of Num of the 3.2 x 3.2 ) show trends similar to those
downstream cylinders is quite small and illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7.
their values are higher than that of the Represented in Fig. 8 is the variation
first cylinder. Included in Fig. 6 are the of Nutm with Re for several cylinder spac­
results of Nuf for the second and fifth ings, in which Nutm denotes the mean Nusselt
cylinders. The increasing rate of Num with number Num for the cylinders on the second
Re of the fifth cylinder becomes large at a and further downstream rows. Included in the
high Reynolds number. On the other hand, figure for comparison are a recommended
Nuf of the second cylinder increases linear­ formula by Zukauskas^) and also an experi­
ly in logarithmic scale. mental one for the third cylinder in an
Demonstrated in Fig. 7 are the results in-line tube bank^2). Zukauskas’ formula is
of Num in the case of 1.2 x 1.2, which are based on the measured data for tube banks of
obtained by integrating graphically Nuq over

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Such features for 1.2 x 1.2 are almost the


same as those for the case of 1.6 x 1.6.
3.3 Velocity and streamwise turbulence
intesity
In a very complicated and high turbu­
lent flow such as the flow around the
cylinders in the tube bank studied in the
present paper, it is very difficult to

Fig. 7 Variation of mean Nusselt number


with Reynolds number ( 1.2 x 1.2 )

twenty rows. However his data for a narrow


cylinder spacing show higher values of Nutm
than those for a wider cylinder spacing. The
present results, on the other hand, repre­
sent a trend contrary to that by Zukauskas.
That is, Nutm for a narrow cylinder spacing
is lower than that for a wide cylinder Re
spacing. It may be reasonable to infer that
in the case of narrow streamwise cylinder Fig. 8 Mean Nusselt number except the
first row
spacing, the oncoming flow velocity de­
creases because of the existence of the
downstream cylinders and the local heat
transfer coefficient decreases, resulting in
a decrease of Num. In general, however the
variation of Nutm with the cylinder spacing
is small as clearly shown in Fig. 8.
Fig. 9 represents the results of Num
for the first cylinder. The variation of Num
with the cylinder spacing is quite different
from that of the downstream cylinders. Ther­
efore, in the case of a tube bank having a
small row number, the mean heat transfer
coefficient of the first cylinder exerts a
considerable effect upon the overall heat
transfer capability of the tube bank.
3.2 Form drag coefficient
It is found in the previous section
that the mean heat transfer coefficient
varies little for the second and downstream
cylinders with the cylinder spacing. As far
as the heat transfer capability is con­
cerned, it would be possible to manufacture Re
a compact heat exchanger. However the pre­ Fig. 9 Effect of cylinder spacing on mean
ssure loss increases, in general, as the Nusselt number for the first cylinder
cylinder spacing transversal to the upstream
uniform flow direction decreases. Therefore
in the design of the compact heat exchanger,
the heat transfer characteristics should be
discussed in relation to its drag.
Fig. 10 gives a typical example in
which form drag coefficient Cp for 1.2 x
1.2. Cp of the first cylinder is remarkably
high but that of the second and downstream
cylinders is nearly equal to 10. According­
ly, in the case of the compact heat ex­
changer having small streamwise rows, the
first cylinder has decisive effects upon its
Fig. 10 Streamwise variation of form drag
pressure loss along with its heat transfer
coefficient ( 1.2 x 1.2 )
capability, as shown previously in Fig. 7.

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obtain highly reliable data on the mean suggests a reverse flow in the separated
and turbulent fluctuating velocities with a flow region(20), and its turbulence intensity
hot-wire anemometer. However they would be is about 20 to 25%.
very useful to understand the heat transfer On the other hand, the data obtained at
process of the tube bank. a cross section midway between the fourth
Shown in Figs. 11(a) and 11(b) are and fifth rows shown in Fig. 11(b) illust­
typical examples of the velocity and stream­ rate that the velocity gragient is not so
wise turbulence intensity for the case of steep as that in Fig. 11(a), though the flow
1.6 x 1.6 at about Re = 4.1x10^. Fig. 11(a) velocity fluctuates very widely ( its range
represents the results measured at a cross is designated by a symbol of § ). Further­
section midway between the first and the more, the maximum velocity decreases by
second rows ( x/cx =0.5 ). It shows that about 10%. A minimum velocity |u/Ua»|min in
the shear layer separated from the first the separated flow region, however, increa­
cylinder possesses a very large velocity ses by about 50% and the turbulence inten­
gradient and a high turbulence Intensity and sity is, as a whole, higher than that in
its maximum value is 40%. Furthermore, the Fig. 11(a).
mean velocity between neighboring lines ( Demonstrated in Fig. 12 are streamwise
say at y/d = 2.4, 0.8, -0.8 and -2.4 ) variations of the maximum velocity (u/Uoo)max
reaches its maximum of about (u/UaOma^ = 2.2 between neighboring lines and also the mini­
and the turbulence intensity therein is mum velocity |U/U®lmin *n the separated
lower than 10%. In the neighborhood of flow region. The former decreases almost
y/d = 1.6, 0 and -1.6, the velocity dis­ linearly toward the downstream and the lat­
tribution shows a W-shaped profile, which ter, on the contrary, increases linearly in
the same direction.
Fig. 15 shows streamwise variations of
the maximum and minimum turbulence inten-

Fig. 12 Streamwise variations of maximum


and minimum velocities ( 1.6 x 1.6 )

(b) Midway between the fourth and fifth


rows ( x/cx = 4.0 )

Fig. 11 Distributions of mean and streamwise


turbulence intensities ( 1.6 x 1.6 and Re = Fig. 15 Streamwise variation of turbulence
4.1X104 ). intensity ( 1.6 x 1.6 )

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sities Turnay and Tumin at cross sections


between two neighboring cylinders. Tumax
shows little change downstream of the third
cylinder, though Tumj_n increases linearly
toward the downstream. In the results ob­
tained at a different Reynolds number ( say
Re = 2.8x104 ), all (u/u^max, lu/lklmin and
also Tumin vary little downstream of the
third cylinder. In such a flow situation,
the distributions of the local Nusselt num­
bers for the fourth and downstream cylinders
are almost equal to each other as illust­
rated previously.
Represented in Fig. 14 is the stream­
wise variation of the wake width d* , which
is defined as a distance between points of
maximum turbulence intensity Tumaxll 2). it is
clear that the wake width decreases in the
downstream direction. Accordingly the on­
Fig. 15 Distributions of mean and streamwise
coming flow through neighboring lines comes turbulence intensities ( 1.2 x 1.2, x/cx =
closer to the forward and rear surfaces of 0.5 and Re = 4.1xio4 )
the cylinder. This may result in an increase
of the heat transfer coefficient therein.
Included in Fig. 14 are the results for an
in-line tube bank^2) for comparison. They

Fig. 16 Streamwise variations of maximum


and minimum velocities ( 1.2 x 1.2 )

In the case of 1.6 x 1.6, a greater


Fig. 14 Streamwise variation of wake width part of the main flow may be entrained into
( 1.6 x 1.6 and Re = 4.1xio4 ). V , in-line
the separated flow region and the velocity
tube bank(12) ( Cx/d = 1.8 and Re = 3.9xio4 )
therein may increase in the downstream dire­
ction. This results in a decrease of the
show a very similar behavior to that of the difference between Wutmt and Nuf in the same
present data. direction. At a lower Reynolds number ( say
— Fig. 15 shows the results of ll/Uco and Re = 2.8x104 ), the value of |u/Ua>|min at
vu'z /Uoo for the case of 1.2 x 1.2 at a the downstream cross section is nearly equal
cross section between the first and second to 0.4 to 0.5 which is almost equal to that
cylinders ( x/Cx = 0.5 ) at about Re = 4.lx at the upstream one. Accordingly the heat
104. It is very clear that the flow through transfer behaviors of the downstream cylin­
the tube bank deflects as a whole and then ders are very similar to those of the up-
it brings about a very irregular distri­ atream cylinder ( say the third cylinder ).
bution. However the value of (u/u«,)max rea­ On the other hand, as the streamwise
ches about 4.3, resulting in the maximum cylinder spacing increases ( for example
of Num for the second cylinder, as previous­ 1.6'x 3.2 ), the third and downstream cylin­
ly shown. ders exhibit the heat transfer character­
Represented in Fig. 16 are the stream­ istics for the single cylinder even at a low
wise veriations of (u/Uoo)^»^ and |ü/u<»| Reynolds number. In such a situation, the
for the case shown in Fig. 15. (u/Uajmax main flow may be frequently entrained into
decreases steeply and reaches a constant the separated flow region. As far as the
value of about 3.0 with some scatter at a tube bank having a narrow streamwise cylin­
cross section downstream of the second cy­ der spacing such as 2.4 x 1.2 is concerned,
linder. Such a situation occures also for the heat transfer features are, in general,
I u/u<x> | mfn. similar to those for the case of 1.6 x 1.6.
The heat transfer process of the in­ However, the difference between Numax and
line tube bank may be correlated with the Nuf does not decrease so remarkably as in
flow features from the facts described above the case of 1.6 x 1.6, since the narrow
as follows. cylinder spacing obstructs the entrainment

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of the main flow into the separated flow students, Mr. M. Oka, Mr. S. Kodama and Mr.
region. Finally, it may be concluded that J. Nakamura for their help in the experi­
the heat transfer characteristics are close­ ments .
ly correlated with the mean flow velocity
along with the turbulence intensity in the
flow around the cylinder. References

4. Concluding Remarks (1) Grimison, E. D., Trans. ASME, 59-7


(1937-10), 583.
Heat transfer characteristics of the (2) Fishenden, M. and Saunders, 0. A., An
in-line tube banks are investigated in rela­ Introduction to Heat Transfer, (1950), 132,
tion to flow behaviors around cylinders. Oxford Clarendon Press.
Main results obtained in the present experi­ (3) Bergelin, 0. P., et al., Trans. ASME,
mental range are summarized as follows. 72-3 (1950-8), 881.
Under the condition of constant Rey­ (4) Bergelin, 0. P., et al., Trans. ASME,
nolds number, the mean Nusselt number of the 74-3 (1952-8), 953.
first cylinder varies considerably with the (5) Zukauskas, A., Advances in Heat Trans­
cylinder spacing. On the other hand, the fer, 8 (1972), Academic Press.
mean Nusselt number of the second and down­ (6) Nishikawa, E. and Ishigai, S., Trans.
stream cylinders shows no marked change with JSME, 43-373 (1977-9), 3310.
the cylinder spacing though the variation of (7) Afgan, N. and Schlünder, E. U., Heat
the local Nusselt number distribution is not Exchangers, (1974), McGraw-Hill.
small. (8) Kostic, Z. G. and Oka, S., Int. J.
In the case of Cy/d = 1.2 and Cx/d = Heat Mass Transfer, 15 (1972-2), 279.
1.2, the flow through the tube bank deflects (9) Aiba, S. and Yamazaki, Y., Trans.
entirely and it results in an asymmetric ASME, Ser. C, 98-3 (1976-8), 503.
distribution of the local heat transfer (10) Aiba, S., et al., Bull. JSME, 23-181
coefficients. (1980-7), 1163.
In the case of Cy/d = 1.6 and Cx/d = (11) Aiba, S., et al., Int. J. Heat Mass
1.6 at Re = 4.1x10^, the difference between Transfer, 23-3 (1980-3), 311.
the maximum Nusselt number and that at the (12) Aiba, S., et al., Bull. JSME, 24-188
forward stagnation point decreases in the (1981-2), 380.
downstream direction. The increase of the (13) Aiba, S., et al., Warme- und Stoff-
minimum velocity in the separated flow re­ übertragung, 12 (1979), 221.
gion in the same direction may be one of the (14) Okamoto, T. and Takeuchi, M., Trans.
factors for such a decrease. This fact may JSME, 41-341 (1975-1), 181.
also suggest an increase of the entrainment (15) Zdravkovich, M. M., Trans. ASME, Ser.
rate of the main flow into the separated I, 99-4 (1977-12), 618.
flow region toward the downstream. The heat (16) Ishigai, S. and Nishikawa, E., Trans.
transfer characteristics have strong depen­ JSME, 40-337 (1974-9), 2599.
dency upon the local flow velocity along its (17) Ishigai, S. and Nishikawa, E., Trans.
turbulence intensity. JSME, 37-304 (1971-12), 2319.
(18) Bearman, P. W. and Wadcock, A. J., J.
The present authors express their th­ Fluid Meeh., 61-3 (1973), 499.
anks to the faculty members of the mechani­ (19) Kobayashi, T., Trans. JSME, 42-357
cal workshop of the Akita Technical College (1976-5), 1452.
for their assistance in the production of (20) Nishioka, M. and Sato, H., J. Fluid
the test facilities and also to the former Meeh., 65-1 (1974), 97.

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