Investigation of the Hydraulic Behavior of a Channel with V-Shaped Baffles at Low Reynolds Numbers

This study numerically analyses the hydraulic behaviour of a channel with V-shaped baffles at low Reynolds numbers. The solutions were conducted using the ANSYS Fluent solver. The V-shaped baffle was placed on each of the top and bottom surfaces of the channel in a staggered arrangement. The effects of the distance between baffles (s: 36 mm, 54 mm, and 72 mm) and Reynolds number (Re: 50, 100, 150) on pressure drop, friction factor, and pumping power were investigated. Velocity and pressure contours were also presented for different parameters. The results indicated that increasing the distance between baffles decreased both the pressure drop and the pumping power. Increasing the Reynolds number led to an increase in the friction factor and pressure drop. The maximum pressure drop was obtained at Re = 150 for s = 36 mm, nearly 0.053 Pa. It was determined that the pressure drop at s = 36 mm was 1.19 times higher than the pressure drop at s = 72 mm. The maximum pumping power was calculated to be 22.463 × 10-8 W at s = 36 mm.