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Laminar Flow and Heat Transfer Phenomena Across

a Confined Semicircular Bluff Body at Low Reynolds
Numbers
a aa
Anuj Kumar & Amit Dhiman
a
Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology RoorkeeRoorkee, India
Accepted author version posted online: 06 Mar 2015.Published online: 22 May 2015.

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To cite this article: Anuj Kumar & Amit Dhiman (2015) Laminar Flow and Heat Transfer Phenomena Across a
Confined Semicircular Bluff Body at Low Reynolds Numbers, Heat Transfer Engineering, 36:18, 1540-1551, DOI:
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 Heat Transfer Engineering, 36(18):15401551, 2015
Copyright 
C Taylor and Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 0145-7632 print / 1521-0537 online
DOI: 10.1080/01457632.2015.1025000

Laminar Flow and Heat Transfer

Phenomena Across a Confined
Semicircular Bluff Body at Low
Reynolds Numbers
Downloaded by [Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee] at 22:11 16 July 2015

ANUJ KUMAR and AMIT DHIMAN

Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, India

The present study is concerned with the simulation of incompressible Newtonian fluid flow and heat transfer over a long
semicircular bluff body in a channel at low Reynolds numbers. In particular, wall effects on the forced convection from a
(heated) semicircular cylinder confined in a horizontal channel are investigated for Reynolds number = 140 and blockage
ratio = 16.6750% for air as the working fluid. Flow and thermal fields are found steady for the preceding range of settings.
The onset of flow separation increases as the wall confinement increases. The size of the recirculation zone downstream of
a semicircular cylinder is seen to increase almost linearly with Reynolds number for a fixed blockage ratio, but it decreases
with increasing blockage ratio for a fixed Reynolds number. As expected, total drag coefficient and its components decrease
with increasing value of Reynolds number. However, with increasing blockage ratio, the values of these drag coefficients
increase. On the basis of equal projected area, the total drag coefficient for the present flow system is found to be greater
than the corresponding drag in the case of the unconfined semicircular cylinder. Similarly, the overall drag in the case of
a confined semicircular cylinder is found to be greater than that of a confined circular cylinder for the appropriate range
of dimensionless control parameters. The maximum augmentation in heat transfer for blockage ratios of 25% and 50% is
found to be approximately 16% and 51% with respect to the corresponding value at the blockage ratio of 16.67% at Reynolds
number = 1. Finally, the correlations of wake length, drag coefficient, and average Nusselt number are obtained.

INTRODUCTION and others [1, 2]. On the contrary, virtually no information is

In recent years, fluid flow and heat transfer phenomena
around a long semicircular obstacle (long in neutral direction)
have been extensively studied in the laminar unconfined flow
regime because of both theoretical and pragmatic considera-
tions. For instance, flow over a semicircular cylinder is encoun-
tered in thermal and hydraulic design of various kinds of heat
exchangers (tubular, pin-type, and other novel designs), process-
ing of fibrous suspensions, fiber-reinforced polymer compos-
ites, screens to dewater coalwater slurries, filtration of sewage
sludge and polymer melts, removal of oversized particles from
coating suspensions, polymer and food processing applications,
flow metering devices, electronic cooling, probes and sensors,
Address correspondence to Dr. Amit Dhiman, Department of Chemical
Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247 667, India.
E-mail: dhimuamit@rediffmail.com
available on the bounded flow and heat transfer characteristics
over a semicircular bluff body besides having numerous engi-
neering applications such as in microfluidic and in nuclear and
semiconductor applications and others. Therefore, the present
work is concerned with momentum and heat transfer across a
semicircular cylinder confined in a channel at low Reynolds
numbers (Re). For instance, Chhabra [1], Chandra and Chhabra
[2], and Kiya and Arie [3] investigated the flow around a semi-
circular cylinder at low Re and or in the steady regime. However,
it is appropriate to first briefly reaccount the relevant studies on
the problem under consideration.
Kiya and Arie [3] investigated numerically the two-
dimensional (2-D) viscous flow past semicircular and semiel-
liptical projections attached to a plane wall on which a laminar
boundary layer has developed for Re = 0.1100. They reported
geometrical shapes of front and rear standing vortices, drag co-
efficients, pressure, and shear-stress distributions as functions
of Re. Forbes and Schwartz [4] examined the 2-D steady flow of

1540
 A. KUMAR AND A. DHIMAN
a fluid over a semicircular obstacle on the bottom of a stream. A
linearized theory is presented, along with a numerical method
for the solution of the fully nonlinear problem. The nonlin-
ear free-surface profile is obtained after solution of an integro-
differential equation coupled with the dynamic free-surface con-
dition. The wave resistance of a semicircle is calculated from
the knowledge of the solution at the free surface. Subsequently,
Forbes [5] solved the exact equations of 2-D ideal fluid flow over
a semicircular obstruction, using the formulation of Forbes and
Schwartz [4]. Critical flow is obtained by allowing the upstream
Froude number to be sought as part of the solution, and spec-
ifying uniform flow upstream and downstream of the obstacle,
with unknown depth and flow speed infinitely far downstream.
Briefly, the flow takes one of two possible forms, depending on
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the value of the upstream Froude number (Fr ) according to lin-
earized theory: (i) If Fr < 1, linearized theory predicts a region
of uniform flow far ahead of the obstruction followed by a train
of downstream waves, and (ii) if Fr > 1, a wave-free solution is
obtained, in which the fluid surface simply rises over the obsta-
cle, before returning to the undisturbed level downstream [5].
Obviously, there is no linearized solution when Fr = 1. Exper-
imentally, Boisaubert et al. [6] analyzed the confined flow over
a semicircular cylinder for the flat and rounded sides facing the
flow using a solid tracer visualization technique for Re ranging
between 60 and 600. They found critical Reynolds numbers for
the onset of vortex shedding as 140 and 190 for flat and curved
surfaces, respectively. They also introduced a splitter plate be-
hind the rounded forebody configuration to study its effect on
the flow behavior, and suggested the suitability of this arrange-
ment as a flow-controlling device [7, 8]. Kotake and Suwa [9]
investigated the variation of stagnation points and the behavior
of vortices in the rear of a semicircular cylinder in the uniform
shear flow by the visualization technique of the hydrogen bubble
method. Especially in the case of the shear flow, there was not a
vortex on the side with the faster speed of the mainstream and it
found that the vortex was generating only on the slower speed
side. Iguchi and Terauchi [10] studied three kinds of noncircu-
lar cylinders (e.g., semicircular, triangular, and rectangular) to
detect the shedding frequency of Karmans vortex streets for
velocity lower than 10 cm/s. Among them, a triangular cylinder
is found to meet this requirement most adequately as long as the
direction of flow approaching the triangular cylinder is known.
The minimum detectable velocity is approximately 5 cm/s. So-
phy et al. [11] examined the flow past a semicircular cylinder
with curved surface facing the flow and found the flow to be
unsteady at Re = 65. They obtained the corresponding Strouhal
number of about 0.166, which is 7% larger than that of a circular
cylinder at the corresponding transition.
In recent years, Chandra and Chhabra [2] documented the
unconfined flow and heat transfer over a semicircular cylin-
der immersed in Newtonian fluids for 0.01 Re 39.5 and
0.72 Pr 100. The critical values of Reynolds numbers for
wake formation and for the onset of vortex shedding are iden-
tified as 0.55 < Re < 0.6 and 39.5 < Re < 40, respectively.
The total drag is dominated by the pressure contribution even
heat transfer engineering
1541
at low Reynolds numbers. Similarly, the heat transfer results
conform to the expected positive dependence on Re and Pr.
Further, the delineation of the critical Reynolds numbers rep-
resenting the onset of flow separation from a semicircular
cylinder and the onset of the laminar vortex shedding regime
is investigated numerically by Chandra and Chhabra [12] for
Newtonian/non-Newtonian fluids for the range of settings Re =
0.0140 and n = 0.21.8 (where n is the power-law index). Irre-
spective of the type of fluid behavior, both these transitions are
reported to occur at a value of the Reynolds number that is lower
than that for a circular cylinder. Along the same line, Chandra
and Chhabra [13] simulated the forced flow and heat transfer of
power-law fluids over a semicircular cylinder in the 2-D steady
flow regime for a range of dimensionless control parameters:
Re = 0.0130, Pr = 1100, and n = 0.21.8. Broadly, it is pos-
sible to enhance the heat transfer rate in shear-thinning fluids
by up to 6070% under appropriate conditions. Finally, simple
expressions for recirculation length, surface pressure, and Nus-
selt number have been derived. Subsequently, they examined
the effects of mixed [14] and natural [15, 16] convection around
a semicircular cylinder in the steady regime. Recently, Bhinder
et al. [17] numerically investigated the forced convective heat
transfer characteristics past a semicircular cylinder at incidence
for 80 Re 180. Increase in angle of incidence increases
streamline curvature. Strouhal number shows a decreasing trend
up to certain values of angle of attack and thereafter it increases
marginally. A correlation of Strouhal number as a function of
Reynolds number and attack angle has also been established.
More recently, Chatterjee et al. [18] simulated the unsteady
forced convection heat transfer around a semicircular cylinder
for two different configurations, namely, for the curved surface
facing the flow and for the flat surface facing the flow in an un-
confined medium for Re ranging from 50 to 150 and Pr = 0.71.
The flow and thermal fields are more unstable when the flow
impinges on the curved surface rather that in the flat surface. The
simple heat transfer correlations depicting the functional depen-
dence of the Nusselt number with Reynolds number were also
obtained. In the vortex shedding regime, Chandra and Chhabra
[19] also studied the flow and forced convection heat transfer
characteristics of a semicircular cylinder to Newtonian/power-
law fluids over the range of conditions as Re = 40140, Pr =
0.750, and n = 0.21.8. The value of the average Nusselt num-
ber increases by a factor of 56 as the value of Prandtl number
is increased from 0.7 to 50, which is in line with the expected
scaling N u Pr /3 .
1
Aside from the studies just described, Coutanceau et al. [20]
analyzed the way the initial wake vortices (primary and sec-
ondary vortices) form and develop with time behind a short
cylindrical semicircular shell (hollow at the back). The struc-
ture of the vortices is examined by means of precise visual-
izations both in mid-cross and mid-span planes. They reported
that the regime of the occurring structures changes beyond the
first phase of development when Reynolds number is passing
through a critical value (Re between 120 and 140). Hocking
and Vanden-Broeck [21] carried out numerical computations
vol. 36 no. 18 2015
 1542 A. KUMAR AND A. DHIMAN

to investigate the effect of gravity on the wake region of the

flow past semicircular cylinders where gravity is acting perpen-
dicular to the flow direction by utilizing the symmetry in the
domain. The results indicated that the presence of gravity has a
significant effect on the solutions as a variety of solutions are
obtained as Froude number, cavitation number, and arc length
of the cavity change. At high Reynolds number, Koide et al. [22]
investigated the synchronization of Karman vortex shedding by
giving a controlled cross-flow oscillation to a circular cylinder, a
semicircular cylinder, and a triangular cylinder, and it is shown
that the synchronization region is almost the same for the three
cylinders in spite of the different behaviors of separation point
movement at a Reynolds number of around 3500. Subsequently,
they [23] investigated the influence of the cross-sectional con-
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figuration of a cylindrical body on Karman vortex excitation Figure 1 Schematic of the confined flow and heat transfer in a channel with a
experimentally by using the same cylinders. Karman vortex ex- built-in semicircular cylinder.
citation appears on all three cylinders; however, the oscillation
behavior is reported drastically different among them. sumed to be small, that is, Tw T = 2K, so that the variation
Thus, as far as we know, no one investigated the momentum of physical properties (e.g., density, viscosity, thermal conduc-
and heat transfer around a confined semicircular cylinder in a tivity) with temperature could be neglected. In addition, the
channel besides having many engineering applications [1, 2]. viscous dissipation effects are neglected as Brinkman number
Therefore, the aim of this study is to fill this gap in the literature is assumed to be small over the range of conditions investigated
for air flow and heat transfer across a semicircular cylinder at here. Thus, the present results are applicable to situations where
low Re for varying values of blockage ratios. To understand the temperature difference is not too large and for moderate
the flow and thermal fields around a long semicircular obstacle, viscosity and/or shearing levels. Under these assumptions, the
streamline and isotherm contours are presented and discussed. flow and heat transfer phenomena are governed by the following
The engineering output parameters such as drag coefficient and continuity, NavierStokes, and thermal energy equations:
Nusselt number are calculated. In addition, the onset of flow Continuity equation:
separation is determined at different values of blockage ratios. Ux U y
+ =0 (1)
x y
x-Momentum equation:
 2 
Ux Ux Ux U y Ux 1 p Ux 2 Ux
PROBLEM DESCRIPTION AND FORMULATION + + = + + (2)
t x y x x2 y2

The 2-D confined laminar flow and heat transfer of incom- y-Momentum equation:
pressible Newtonian fluids in a channel with a built-in long  2 
U y Ux U y U y U y 1 p Uy 2Uy
semicircular bar are investigated, as schematically shown in + + = + + (3)
t x y y x2 y2
Figure 1. The obstacle of semicircular cross section is exposed
to a fully developed velocity field with average velocity (U ) Energy equation:
and uniform temperature (T ) at the inlet. The obstacle is lo-  2 
T Ux T U y T T 2T
cated on the centerline of the channel at an upstream distance of + + = + (4)
t x y x2 y2
X u from the inlet and at a downstream distance of X d from the
outlet. The total length of the computational domain is L ( = X u where U x , U y , p, and T are the x- and y-components of veloc-
+ X d ) in the axial direction and the height of the computational ity, pressure, and temperature, respectively; is the kinematic
domain is H in the lateral direction. The wall confinement or viscosity (/) and is the thermal diffusivity (k/(C p )). In
blockage ratio () is defined here as = D/H , where D is the the present study, the flow and heat transfer phenomena depend
diameter of the semicircular cylinder and H is the height of the upon three nondimensional control parameters such as Reynolds
domain. and Prandtl numbers and blockage ratio, which are defined as
For the 2-D, incompressible and laminar flow, the continuity, DU /, C p /k, and D/H , respectively.
the x-component and y-component of momentum, and the en- The boundary conditions may be written as follows for the
ergy equations are given next (Eqs. (1)(4)). The thermophysical present flow configuration (Figure 1): At the channel inlet: A
properties of the streaming fluid are assumed to be independent fully developed 2-D channel flow (Poiseuille flow) is imposed,
of the temperature. In this work, the temperature difference Ux = 1.5U [1 (|1 2y H
|)2 ](0 y H ); U y = 0 and
between the streaming fluid and the semicircular cylinder is as- T = T . On upper and lower walls of the channel: Ux =
heat transfer engineering vol. 36 no. 18 2015
 A. KUMAR AND A. DHIMAN 1543

0; U y = 0 (no-slip) and T / y = 0 (adiabatic). At the surface

of a semicircular cylinder: Ux = 0; U y = 0 (no-slip) and
T = Tw (uniform wall temperature). At the channel exit: It is
located sufficiently far downstream from the semicircular bluff
body and chosen based on the studies reported in the literature [1,
17, 18], Ux / x = 0, U y / x = 0 and T / x = 0. Pressure
boundary conditions are not explicitly required, since the solver
extrapolates the pressure from the interior [24].

NUMERICAL METHODOLOGY

The problem under consideration is solved by the commercial

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computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver Ansys Fluent [24].

However, the quadrilateral cells of both uniform and nonuniform
grid spacings were generated (as shown in Figure 2) by using
the commercial grid generator Gambit. For instance, Figures 2a
and 2b illustrate the enlarged views of the nonuniform compu-
tational grid structures around a confined semicircular cylinder
at a blockage ratio of 16.67%. The nonuniform computational
grid is fine near a semicircular cylinder and near channel walls,
and coarse away from the obstacle and the walls. A very fine
grid of cell size of 0.01D (with number of points on the cylinder
equal to 340) is clustered around a semicircular obstacle and
near the channel walls; however, the largest grid size used is
0.5D. A thorough study of the grid dependence for blockage
ratios of 16.67%, 25%, and 50% is given and discussed later in
the Grid Dependence Study subsection.
The 2-D, laminar, and segregated solver is used to solve
the incompressible flow on the collocated grid arrangement.
The third-order QUICK (quadratic upstream interpolation for
convective kinematics) scheme has been used to discretize the
convective terms, whereas the diffusive terms are descritized
by central difference scheme. The semi-implicit pressure linked
(SIMPLE) scheme is used for solving pressurevelocity decou-
pling. The second-order time discretization together with an
implicit scheme has been used for time integration in this work
to check the steadiness of the flow. The user-defined functions
are employed to implement the fully developed velocity profile
at the inlet of the channel. Ansys Fluent [24] solves the system of
algebraic equations using the GaussSiedel point-by-point iter-
ative method in conjunction with the algebraic multigrid (AMG)
solver. The AMG scheme greatly reduces the number of itera- Figure 2 Enlarged views of the nonuniform computational grid structures
tions required to obtain a converged solution, particularly when around a confined semicircular cylinder at the blockage ratio of 16.67%.
the model contains a large number of control volumes (CVs).
Convergence criteria of 1010 for the residuals of continuity and
x- and y-velocities and of 1012 for the residual of thermal en-
ergy equation are used in the steady regime. However, residual
values of the continuity, x- and y- velocities, and energy are vortex shedding was identified at Re > 39.5 for the flow around
used of the order of 1020 each in the time-periodic regime. The an unconfined semicircular cylinder [2].
time-periodic calculations were performed at the highest value The numerical parameters such as grid size, upstream dis-
of the Reynolds number for all the values of blockage ratios tance of a long semicircular bar from the inlet, and downstream
studied here in the full computational domain to ensure that the distance of the obstacle from the outlet have been decided after
flow is steady up to Re = 40. It is notable that the onset of a thorough study, and the details are provided as follows.

heat transfer engineering vol. 36 no. 18 2015

 1544 A. KUMAR AND A. DHIMAN

Table 1 Grid dependence study for Reynolds number of 40 and Prandtl Table 2 Effect of upstream distance on the dimensionless output parameters
number of 0.7 at different values of blockage ratios for Re = 40 and Pr = 0.7 at different values of blockage ratios

CVs on cylinder Total number Upstream distance (Xu /D) CD Nu

Grid /D surface of cells CD Nu
Blockage ratio () = 50%
Blockage ratio () = 50% 30 9.329 4.427
G1 0.1 250 43436 9.521 4.394 45 9.321 4.431
G2 0.01 340 103579 9.321 4.431 60 9.319 4.437
G3 0.008 400 127691 9.319 4.451 Blockage ratio () = 25%
Blockage ratio () = 25% 30 4.002 3.815
G1 0.1 250 63484 4.088 3.801 45 4.001 3.816
G2 0.01 340 113585 4.001 3.816 60 4.002 3.815
G3 0.008 400 132691 4.000 3.851 Blockage ratio () = 16.67%
Blockage ratio () = 16.67% 30 3.336 3.666
G1 0.1 250 68484 3.381 3.635 45 3.336 3.665
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G2 0.01 340 115585 3.336 3.665 60 3.335 3.665

G3 0.008 400 140691 3.330 3.684

ploited for the further calculation of output flow and heat transfer
parameters.
Grid Dependence Study

For the grid resolution study, a detailed examination of phys-
ical parameters for the flow of Newtonian fluids in a channel
with a built-in semicircular cylinder is undertaken for Re =
40, Pr = 0.7, and = 16.6750% (Table 1) for upstream and
downstream distances of 45 and 120, respectively.
Table 1 portrays the values of drag coefficient (CD ) and av-
erage Nusselt number (Nu) at three grid structures (G1, G2, and
G3 with 250, 340, and 400 CVs on the surface of a semicircular
cylinder, respectively) at different . The symbols G1, G2, and
G3 are representing the total number of cells in the domain for
each studied (see Table 1). The relative percentage differences
in the values of CD and Nu for the grid G1 (250 CVs) are found
to be about 2.1% and 1.3%, respectively, with respect to the
values at the grid G3 (400 CVs). However, the corresponding
percentage differences in CD and Nu for the grid G2 (340 CVs)
are found to be only about 0.2% and 0.5%, respectively, as com-
pared to the values of dimensionless output parameters at the
grid G3 (400 CVs). At a blockage ratio of 25%, the relative
differences in the values of CD and Nu for the grid size of G1
(250 CVs) are found to be about 2.2% and 1.3%, respectively,
with respect to the values at the grid G3 (400 CVs). The cor-
responding differences in the values of CD and Nu for the grid
G2 (340 CVs) are found to be only 0.02% and less than 1.0%.
Along the same line, Table 1 exhibits the percentage differences
in the values of drag coefficient and average Nusselt number at a
blockage ratio of 16.67% for three different grid structures (G1,
G2, and G3). The relative differences in the values of CD and
Nu for the grid size of G1 are found to be about 1.5% and 1.4%,
respectively, with respect to the values at the grid G3; however,
the corresponding differences in the values of CD and Nu for the
grid G2 are only 0.2% and less than 0.5%. Thus, the optimized
grid G2 (i.e., 115,585 cells, 113,585 cells, and 103,579 cells
for blockage ratios of 16.67%, 25%, and 50%, respectively)
with 340 CVs on the surface of the long semicircular bar is ex-
heat transfer engineering
Domain Dependence Study
The domain dependence study is conducted for grid G2
(115,585 cells, 113,585 cells, and 103,579 cells for blockage
ratios of 16.67%, 25%, and 50%, respectively) to determine the
effects of upstream and downstream distances on dimensionless
output parameters as follows.
The impact of upstream distance (Xu /D) on the values of
drag (CD ) and average Nusselt number (Nu) is explored for
Xu /D = 30, 45, and 60 for the highest Reynolds number of
40 used here for air as working fluid (Pr = 0.7) at different
values of wall confinements. Table 2 illustrates the values of total
drag coefficient and average Nusselt number for the blockage
ratios of 16.67%, 25%, and 50% at three different values of
dimensionless upstream distances. For the wall confinement of
50% (or = 50%), the relative percentage differences in the
values of CD and Nu for Xu /D = 30 are found to be about 0.1%
and 0.2%, respectively, with respect to the values at Xu /D = 60.
For Xu /D = 45, the corresponding differences are found to be
less than 0.05% and 0.15%, respectively. For the blockage ratio
of 25%, the relative differences in the values of CD and Nu for
Xu /D = 30 and Xu /D = 45 are found to be less than 0.01% with
respect to the values at Xu /D = 60. For the wall confinement of
16.67%, the relative differences in the values of CD and Nu for
Xu /D = 30 and Xu /D = 45 are found to be less than 0.05% with
respect to the values at Xu /D = 60. Hence, the dimensionless
upstream distance (Xu /D) of 45 is regarded to be sufficient for
the results to be free from entrance effects at different values of
blockage ratios.
Similarly, numerical experimentations have been carried out
to determine the effect of downstream distance (Xd /D) on physi-
cal output parameters by considering Xd /D = 100, 120, and 140
for Re = 40 and Pr = 0.7 at different values of blockage ratios
(Table 3). For the blockage ratio of 50%, the relative deviations
vol. 36 no. 18 2015
 A. KUMAR AND A. DHIMAN
Table 3 Effect of downstream distance on the dimensionless output
parameters for Re = 40 and Pr = 0.7 at different values of blockage ratios
Downstream distance (Xd /D) CD
Blockage ratio () = 50%
100 9.319
120 9.321
140 9.319
Blockage ratio () = 25%
100 4.002
120 4.002
140 4.001
Blockage ratio () = 16.67%
100 3.336
120 3.336
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140 3.333
in the values of CD and Nu for Xd /D = 100 are found to be
less than 0.05% with respect to the values at Xd /D = 140. For
Xd /D = 120, the corresponding differences are less than 0.1%
for both CD and Nu. For the blockage ratios of 25% and 16.67%,
the relative changes in the values of CD and Nu for both Xd /D
= 100 and 120 are found to be less than 0.1%, with respect
to the values at Xd /D = 140. Hence, the dimensionless down-
stream distance (Xd /D) of 120 is considered to be adequate for
the present results to be free from end effects at different values
of blockage ratios.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The laminar flow of Newtonian fluids across a bounded
(heated) semicircular cylinder is simulated for the range of set-
tings Re = 140, = 16.6750%, and Pr = 0.7 (air). The de-
tailed flow and thermal fields have been visualized in terms of
streamlines and temperature contours, respectively. The dimen-
sionless output parameters such as wake length (Lr /D), overall
drag coefficient (CD ) and its components (CDF , CDP ), and aver-
age Nusselt number (Nu) are analyzed to delineate their depen-
dence on the pertinent dimensionless control parameters such
as Re and . Furthermore, this study is limited to low values of
Re because of the fact that non-Newtonian fluid flow behavior is
more prominent at low Re compared to high Re. Nevertheless,
investigation of non-Newtonian flow behavior around the long
semicircular obstacle would be the scope for future work.
The benchmarking of the present numerical results is car-
ried out with the numerical results of Chandra and Chhabra [2]
at different values of Reynolds numbers for air in steady un-
confined flow around a semicircular cylinder. Table 4 depicts
the comparison of present drag values with the values reported
in [2]. An excellent agreement can be seen between the two
studies. For instance, the maximum differences in the values of
total drag coefficients are found to be less than 0.1%. Similarly,
the present heat transfer results agree almost exactly with the
results of Chandra and Chhabra [2] to within the accuracy that
heat transfer engineering
1545
Table 4 Comparison of present drag results for the flow around a
semicircular cylinder with literature values in the steady unconfined flow
regime
Nu
Re Present work Chandra and Chhabra [2]
4.428 1 10.050 10.055
4.431 5 3.832 3.832
4.427 10 2.709 2.710
20 1.993 1.993
3.815 30 1.690 1.691
3.816 39.5 1.519 1.520
3.816
3.665
3.665
3.667
their value could be read from their figure. This benchmarks
the present numerical solution procedure. Furthermore, exten-
sive benchmarking of the present numerical methodology for
the flow and heat transfer phenomena around an inclined square
cylinder can be found elsewhere [25]. Unfortunately, as far as we
know, no information is available for the bounded flow across a
semicircular cylinder in the open literature.
Flow Patterns
The streamline contours in the vicinity of a confined semi-
circular obstacle are presented to understand the flow of Newto-
nian fluids at different values of Reynolds numbers (Re = 1, 20,
40) and blockage ratios (16.67%50%) in Figures 3a3i. It is
worthwhile to mention that the flow is found to be steady for the
range of settings investigated in this work. On the other hand,
in the unbounded laminar flow around a semicircular cylinder,
the steady regime exists up to Re = 39.5 and the transition
from a steady to a time-periodic regime is reported in the range
39.5 < Re < 40 [2]. The onset of wake formation or flow sep-
aration from an unconfined semicircular obstacle occurs in the
range 0.55 < Re < 0.6 [2]. In contrast, flow separation delays
occur for a bounded semicircular cylinder due to the additional
dissipation at the confining walls. For instance, no flow separa-
tion occurs from the surface of a confined semicircular cylinder
in a channel at Re = 1 for all values of blockage ratios studied
(Figures 3a3c).
As the Reynolds number is gradually increased (1 < Re
40), the flow separates from the trailing edge of a long semicir-
cular bar, and a closed recirculation or wake region consisting of
two symmetric standing vortices is observed behind the flat rear
surface of a semicircular cylinder (Figures 3d3i). The wake
region increases with an increase in the Reynolds number for
a fixed value of the blockage ratio; however, the recirculation
region decreases with increasing blockage ratio for a fixed value
of Re because the proximity of the bounding walls suppresses
the wake growth. Analogous behavior of the wake region is re-
ported for the confined flow over circular [2628] and square
[2931] bluff bodies in the steady regime.
vol. 36 no. 18 2015
 1546 A. KUMAR AND A. DHIMAN
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Figure 3 Streamline contours for Re = 1, 20, and 40 at different values of
blockage ratios.
Onset of Flow Separation
The Reynolds number at which the flow separates from the
surface of the semicircular cylinder is expressed here as the
onset Re of flow separation (Rec ). The variation of the onset
Rec of flow separation with blockage ratio is shown in Figure 4.
For = 16.67%, the flow is found to be attached to the surface
of the cylinder at Re = 1, whereas the flow separates at Re = 2;
for = 25%, the flow is attached up to Re = 2 and it separates
at Re = 3; and for = 50%, no flow separation is found up to
Re = 3 whereas it separates at Re = 4. Thus, the onset of flow
separation exists at Rec = 2, 3, and 4 for = 16.67%, 25%, and
50%, respectively. It can also be notable here that the onset of
flow separation increases as the wall confinement increases.
Thermal Patterns
The representative isotherm contours around a long semi-
circular bar for Re = 140 and = 16.6750% for air as the
working fluid are illustrated in Figures 5a5i for the constant-
temperature condition. It is notable from these figures that the
curved surface of a semicircular cylinder exhibits the maximum
crowding of the temperature contours as compared to the flat
rear surface, indicating the highest Nusselt number, because
the boundary layer develops from the front stagnation point
on the curved surface. This is also consistent with the heat
transfer results of Chandra and Chhabra [2] for an unconfined
semicircular cylinder. The crowding of the temperature con-
tours near the curved surface of the cylinder increases with an
increase in Reynolds number and/or blockage ratio. The turn-
heat transfer engineering
Figure 4 Variation of the onset Reynolds number of flow separation (Rec )
with blockage ratio.
ing of isotherms toward the flat rear surface of a semicircular
cylinder is observed for Re > 10. The turning of isotherms in-
creases with increasing Reynolds number and decreases with
wall confinement. This is due to the fact that as the value of
the Reynolds number increases, the length of the recircula-
tion region increases, but with increasing blockage ratio the
wake region decreases. The decay of temperature field around a
semicircular obstacle with increasing Reynolds number and/or
blockage ratio can also be seen in Figure 5. These trends are
also consistent with long obstacles confined in a channel, such
as a square cylinder [2931] and a circular cylinder [32] in the
steady regime.
Variation of Wake Length With Re and
The computed results of the nondimensional recirculation or
wake length (L r /D) as a function of Reynolds number (Re)
and blockage ratio () are shown in Figure 6. In this study, the
wake length is measured from the flat rear surface of a long
semicircular obstacle to the point of attachment for the near
closed streamline on the axis of symmetry. The location of the
attachment point is determined computationally by monitor-
ing the streamwise velocity along the streamwise centerline of
a semicircular cylinder and moving downstream until its sign
changes from negative to positive [33]. Evidently, the size of
the recirculation zone downstream of a semicircular cylinder
is seen to increase almost linearly with Reynolds number for
a fixed blockage ratio [2]. However, the wake length decreases
with increasing blockage ratio for a fixed value of the Reynolds
number because of increasing levels of shearing with . Further-
vol. 36 no. 18 2015
 A. KUMAR AND A. DHIMAN
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Figure 5 Isotherm contours for Re = 1, 20, and 40 at different values of
blockage ratios for air as working fluid.
more, at high blockage ratios, the shear layers issuing from the
top and bottom halves of the cylinder shoulders interact with
the boundary layers generated at the channel walls. Those in
effect reduce transverse diffusion and therefore decrease in re-
circulation zone. These trends are also in line with the results of
the wake length for a confined circular cylinder [2628] and a
confined square cylinder [2931] in the steady regime.
Further, the following correlation is established for the cal-
culation of wake length for the intermediate values of physical
Figure 6 Variation of recirculation length with blockage ratio and Reynolds
number. Symbols (delta, gradient, circle) and lines (dash, dashdotdot, solid)
correspond to present computed and correlation (Eq. (5)) data, respectively.
heat transfer engineering
1547
parameters in the steady confined flow regime. The following
expression is obtained for the recirculation length for the range
of conditions: 5 Re 40 and 16.67% 50%:
0.0626
L r /D = (0.00911.2654 )(0.98322 + 0.0003/2 )Re Re1.4278 (5)
Equation (5) has a maximum deviation of about 4.7% (at
Re = 5 for = 16.67%) and an average deviation of about 3.3%
with the present computed results. The deviation of present
computed results with Eq. (5) can also be seen in Figure 6.
Variation of Drag Coefficients With Re and
Because the two drag components, namely, friction drag co-
efficient (CDF ) and pressure drag coefficient (CDP ), contribute
to overall drag (CD ), the total drag coefficient can be mathemat-
ically written as CD = CDF + CDP . Figures 7a, 7b, and 8 show
the variation of pressure drag, friction drag, and total drag coef-
ficients respectively with Reynolds numbers (140) and block-
age ratios (16.6750%) for the flow in a channel with a built-in
semicircular cylinder. As expected, the values of friction drag,
pressure drag, and total drag coefficients decrease with increas-
ing value of the Reynolds number for a semicircular cylinder [2].
Also, the drag is strongly dependent at low values of Reynolds
number because the viscous forces play a dominant role in the
steady flow regime. With increasing value of the blockage ratio
from 16.67% to 50%, the values of individual and overall drag
coefficients increase. If compared with an unconfined semicir-
cular cylinder [2] on the basis of equal projected area, the present
total drag coefficient for all values of blockage ratios studied is
found to be greater than the corresponding value of the drag
in the case of the unconfined semicircular cylinder [2] due to
the effect of wall confinement. Similarly, on the basis of equal
projected area, the overall drag in the case of a confined semi-
circular cylinder is found greater than that of a confined circular
cylinder [28] for the appropriate range of dimensionless control
parameters in the steady regime.
Further examination of the present results in terms of the vari-
ation of the drag ratio, defined here as CDP /CD , with Reynolds
number (Re) and blockage ratio () is presented in Figure 7c.
The value of the drag ratio (i.e., CDP /CD ) changes significantly
from 0.64 to 0.73, 0.67 to 0.75, and 0.76 to 0.80 for blockage ra-
tios of 16.67%, 25%, and 50%, respectively. On the other hand,
the drag ratio is reported to vary meagerly with Reynolds num-
ber for the unconfined flow across a long semicircular obstacle
[2]; for example, the drag ratio varies from 0.68 (at Re = 0.01)
to 0.70 (at Re = 39.5). The value of the drag ratio increases
with increasing wall confinement. The increase in the drag ratio
is found more from = 25% to 50% than the corresponding
increase from = 16.67% to 25%. In general, the pressure drag
dominates as the values of Reynolds number and blockage ratio
are increased.
Furthermore, the total drag coefficient for the intermedi-
ate values of Reynolds numbers and blockage ratios can be
calculated by using the following correlation for the ranges
vol. 36 no. 18 2015
 1548 A. KUMAR AND A. DHIMAN
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Figure 7 Variation of (a) pressure drag coefficient, (b) friction drag coefficient,
and (c) ratio of pressure drag coefficient to total drag coefficient with Reynolds
number and blockage ratio.

1 Re 40 and 16.67% 50%:

Figure 9 Local Nusselt number variation around the semicircular cylinder at
Re = 40, = 16.67%, 25%, and 50% at Pr = 0.7.
C D = 1.3837 + 14.6753 1.5
58.1578( 0.1883)/Re 0.5

+10.9464(1+)7.4365 /Re (6)
The preceding expression has a maximum deviation of less
than 3.2% with the present computed results (for Re = 40 and
= 16.67%), and an average deviation of less than 1.5%. Fig-
ure 8 also depicts the deviation of present computed results with
Eq. (6).
Figure 8 Variation of total drag coefficient with Reynolds number and block-
age ratio. Symbols (delta, gradient, circle) and lines (dash, dashdotdot, solid)
correspond to present computed and correlation (Eq. (6)) data, respectively.
heat transfer engineering
Variation of Local and Average Nusselt Numbers With Re
and
The variation of the local Nusselt number (NuL ) along a
curved surface (A B and B C) and flat surface (C A)
of the semicircular cylinder is shown in Figure 9 for the highest
value of Re considered here at Pr = 0.7 and for various blockage
ratios. As expected, the value of the local Nusselt number on
the surfaces of the 2-D semicircular cylinder increases with the
increase in Re for the fixed value of blockage ratio. Similarly,
for a fixed value of Re, the value of the local Nusselt number
around each surface of the obstacle increases with increasing
channel confinement as the wake length decreases with increas-
ing blockage ratio. The local Nusselt number is found larger for
the curved surface than the flat surface of the long semicircu-
lar bluff body, thereby suggesting more heat transfer from the
curved surface than from the flat one.
The variation of the average Nusselt number for a confined
semicircular cylinder with varying values of Reynolds num-
bers and blockage ratios for air as the working fluid is repre-
sented in Figure 10. As expected, the average Nusselt num-
ber for a long semicircular obstacle increases with increas-
ing Reynolds number for all blockage ratios investigated [2].
However, with an increase in the value of the blockage ratio
from 16.67% to 50%, the average Nusselt number for a con-
fined semicircular cylinder increases for Re > 5, and an oppo-
site trend is observed at a Reynolds number of unity because
there is no flow separation from the surface of a semicircu-
lar cylinder at Re = 1 and also the conduction effect is more
prominent here. A mixed trend is seen at Re = 5; it increases
from = 16.67% to 25% and thereafter it decreases, but the
vol. 36 no. 18 2015
 A. KUMAR AND A. DHIMAN
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Figure 10 Average Nusselt number of a semicircular cylinder for the flow of air
as a function of Reynolds number and blockage ratio. Symbols (delta, gradient,
circle) and lines (dash, dashdotdot, solid) correspond to present computed and
correlation (Eq. (7)) data, respectively.
difference in the values is very small. It is also noticeable from
the figure that the blockage ratio effect is much more signifi-
cant at 50% compared to smaller blockage values (e.g., 16.67%
or 25%) because of the additional dissipation at the confining
walls.
The maximum augmentation in the value of the average Nus-
selt number for the blockage ratios of 25% and 50% is found to
be approximately 16% and 51% with respect to the correspond-
ing value at the blockage ratio of 16.67% at Re = 1. Therefore,
the maximum augmentation in heat transfer occurs at a blockage
ratio of 50%. Further, as the enhancement in the heat transfer be-
cause of blockage is due to the higher flow in the annular region
between the bluff body and the wall, one should also compare
this value of Nu with the unconfined case. This enhancement in
heat transfer is calculated at = 50% with respect to the uncon-
fined semicircular cylinder [2] on the basis of equal projected
area. The enhancement of approximately 38% is found between
the present results (at Pr = 0.7) and that of Chandra and Chhabra
[2] (at Pr = 0.72) at Re = 1. Furthermore, the present value of
the average Nusselt number is compared with the corresponding
value in the case of a confined circular cylinder in the steady
regime [32] on the basis of equal projected area. It is found
that the average Nusselt number is greater in the case of a con-
fined circular cylinder [32] than that of a confined semicircular
cylinder for the appropriate range of conditions. However, the
present values of the average Nusselt number are at Pr = 0.7
and those of Bharti et al. [32] are at Pr = 1. Bharti et al. [32]
investigated the influence of planar confining walls on the heat
transfer from a circular cylinder for Pr ranging from 1 to 100 at
low values of Re (140).
heat transfer engineering
1549
Finally, the following heat transfer correlation is obtained
for the calculation of average Nusselt number for the range of
conditions 1 Re 40 and 16.67% 50%:
Nu = (1.55190.3126 )(1.9664(1+)4.2945 )1/Re Re(0.3429+0.001/ )
2
(7)
This equation has a maximum deviation of about 4.2%
(at Re = 5 for = 25%) and an average deviation of less
than 1.7%. The deviation of the present computed results with
Eq. (7) can also be seen in Figure 10.
CONCLUSIONS
The forced convection flow and heat transfer across a con-
fined semicircular bluff body in a channel are investigated for
the range of settings Re = 140, = 16.6750%, and Pr =
0.7 (air). To elucidate the effects of physical control parame-
ters on momentum and heat transfer characteristics, numerical
results are presented in terms of wake length, drag coefficient,
and average Nusselt number. The flow and thermal fields are
found to be steady for this range of conditions. The onset of
flow separation increases as the blockage ratio increases. The
size of the recirculation zone behind a semicircular cylinder is
seen to increase almost linearly with Re for a fixed blockage
ratio, but it decreases with increasing blockage ratio for a fixed
value of Re. As expected, the values of individual (i.e., friction
and pressure drags) and total drag coefficients decrease with
increasing value of Re for a semicircular cylinder. However,
with increasing value of blockage ratio, the values of individual
and overall drag coefficients increase. The total drag coeffi-
cient for the present flow system is found to be greater than the
corresponding drag in the case of the unconfined semicircular
cylinder. Similarly, the overall drag in the case of a confined
semicircular cylinder is found to be greater than that of a con-
fined circular cylinder in the steady regime. The average Nusselt
number increases monotonically with increasing Re. However,
an opposite trend is observed at low Re because there is no
flow separation from the surface of a semicircular cylinder at
the Reynolds number of unity. The maximum augmentation in
heat transfer for blockage ratios of 25% and 50% is found to be
approximately 16% and 51% with respect to the corresponding
value at the blockage ratio of 16.67% at Re = 1. The average
Nusselt number is found to be greater in the case of a confined
circular cylinder than that of a confined semicircular cylinder
for the appropriate range of conditions. Finally, the expres-
sions of wake length, drag coefficient, and Nusselt number are
established.
NOMENCLATURE
CD total drag coefficient, C D = 2FD /(U
2
D),
dimensionless
vol. 36 no. 18 2015
 1550 A. KUMAR AND A. DHIMAN

C DF friction drag coefficient, C D F = 2FD F /(U 2

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Anuj Kumar did his M.Tech. in chemical engineer-
ing from the Department of Chemical Engineering at
the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee under the
supervision of Dr. Dhiman. He received his B.Tech.
degree in chemical engineering from HBTI Kanpur,
India. His research interest includes CFD, fluid flow,
and heat transfer phenomena around bluff bodies.
Amit Dhiman holds B.Tech., M.Tech., and Ph.D.
degrees in chemical engineering from the Institute
of Engineering & Technology Lucknow, Indian In-
stitute of Technology Roorkee, and Indian Institute
of Technology Kanpur, respectively. He is currently
an associate professor in the Department of Chemi-
cal Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology
Roorkee, India. He has also worked in Steel Author-
ity of India Limited (SAIL) for about 6 months. He
has published more than 50 research articles in scien-
tific journals. His research interest includes CFD, non-Newtonian fluid flow and
heat transfer, modeling and simulation, reaction engineering, and risk analysis.
He is a member of the International Association of Engineers (IAENG).
vol. 36 no. 18 2015