Minimization of Coriolis Effect on Heat Transfer Over a Partially Heated Wall in a Rotating Enclosure

Abstract To study heat transfer and combustion in reduced gravity environments, such as those on the Moon or Mars, a centrifuge becomes a useful tool. However, the artificial gravity generated in a rotating platform is complicated by the presence of the Coriolis force. The effect of this extra force needs to be minimized to accurately simulate natural gravity. In this work, two- and three-dimensional transient numerical computations are performed to quantify the effect of the Coriolis force. Differences between Lunar gravity and artificial gravity on buoyant flow and convective heat transfer are discussed. This study shows there are configurations that can minimize the Coriolis force effects on flow and heat transfer profiles. Ideally, when the artificial gravity vector is parallel to the heating wall, and the flow and heat transfer profile can be configured two-dimensional with a wide heating surface, orienting the rotation axis parallel to the third (width) dimension renders the Coriolis force irrotational and its effect negligible. When the configuration is essentially three-dimensional, orienting the dominant Coriolis force component toward the heated solid surface can significantly reduce the Coriolis effect, compared with orienting it away from the surface.