Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer from a Cylinder Between Parallel Planes

An integral approach is employed to investigate the effects of blockage on fluid flow and heat transfer from a circular cylinder confined between parallel planes. The integral form of the boundary-layer momentum equation is solved using the modified von Kármán–Pohlhausen method, which uses a fourth-order velocity profile inside the hydrodynamic boundary layer. The potential flow velocity, outside the boundary layer, is obtained by the method of images. A third-order temperature profile is used in the thermal boundary layer to solve the energy integral equation for isothermal and isoflux boundary conditions. Closed-form solutions are obtained for the fluid flow and heat transfer from the cylinder with blockage ratio and Reynolds and Prandtl numbers as parameters. It is shown that the blockage ratio controls the fluid flow and the transfer of heat from the cylinder and delays the separation. The results for both thermal boundary conditions are found to be in a good agreement with experimental/numerical data for a single circular cylinder in a channel.