Pergamon Int. Comm. Heat Mass Transfer, Vol. 26, NO. 6, pp. 869-878, 1999 Copyright © 1999Elsevier ScienceLtd Printed in the USA. All rights reserved 0735-1933/99/S-see front matter PH S0735-1933(99)00075-5 SIMULATION OF TURBULENT FLOW AND HEAT TRANSFER AROUND RECTANGULAR BARS Alvaro Valencia and Carolina Orellana Department of Mechanical Engineering Universidad de Chile Casilla 2777, Santiago CHILE (Communicated by J.P. Hartnett and W.J. Minkowycz) ABSTRACT Numerical investigations on the turbulent fluid flow and the local heat transfer from rectangular bars for three different aspect ratios were carried out with Re=22000 and Pr=-0.71. The standard k-e turbulence model and a modified version were used in conjunction with the Reynolds-averaged momentum and energy equations for the simulations. The predictions of drag, lift, local and global heat transfer coefficients on the front, side and on the rear face of the rectangular bars are compared with available experimental results. © 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd Introduction The flow past slender, bluff structures is frequently associated with periodic vortex shedding causing dynamic loading on the structures. For the design of such structures, the unsteady loading forces must be known and hence methods for predicting the flow and the forces are of great practical importance. Rectangular bar is also one of the most interesting bluff body in connection with the question of heat transfer mechanism in the separated, reattached flow region. For situations with high Reynolds numbers, which usually occur in practice, stochastic three-dimensional turbulent fluctuations are superimposed on the periodic vortex-shedding motion. A resolution of these motions in a direct simulation is not feasible at present. Hence, there is still a need for economic calculation methods based on the use of a turbulence model for simulating the influence of the stochastic fluctuations on the periodic vortex-shedding motion. Measurements of the velocity characteristics for the turbulent flow around a square cross-section bar mounted in a water channel for Re=14000 show that in the zones of highest velocity oscillations the energy associated with the turbulent fluctuations is about 40% of the total energy, [1]. Franke and Rodi 869