EXPERIMENTAL, NUMERICAL ANALYSIS AND OPTIMIZATION OF ELLIPTICAL ANNULAR FINS UNDER FREE CONVECTION

This paper presents the total heat transfer rate by Elliptical Annular Fin (EAF) and
Circular Annular Fin (CAF) by experimental set-up, validated CFD analysis and optimization of
EAF using Genetic Algorithm (GA). The experimental result of EAF shows that, the surface
temperature of EAF goes on decreasing gradually along with the projected surface area in the
direction of the major axis. The STE decreases with the Biot number (Bi) and Shape factor (SF).
The rate of reduction of STE with increasing Bi is higher for Bi < 0.013. The experimental results
are validated with CFD result. The deviation is within acceptable range for surface temperature,
STE and fin effectiveness are 5-8%. The GA developed is validated with the experimental result. It
is observed that, the fin effectiveness is higher when the minor axis touches the circumference of
the CT, and for smaller values of SF and smaller values of the radius of the CT. This optimization
method is universal and may be used for optimization of EAF under specified volume.