Prandtl Number Effect on the Laminar Convective Heat Transfer From a Rotating Disk

Convective heat transfer in rotating disk systems is of great importance in many engineering applications. Despite the high practical relevance, there have been only a small number of experimental investigations regarding the influence of the Prandtl number larger than unity. Ever since Dorfman's pioneering work more than 50 years ago, various analytical works about the heat transfer of a rotating disk have been published. However, this study is a novelty because measurements of the laminar convective heat transfer over a free rotating disk for a wide range of Prandtl number up to Pr=5000 are presented. The accuracy of the employed experimental apparatus was assessed by heat transfer measurements in air, for which reliable literature data are widely available. Natural convection effects and temperature-dependent physical properties have been taken into consideration using the property-ratio method. The experimental results are in excellent agreement with analytical self-similar solutions and the theoretical correlation of Lin and Lin. The applicability of frequently used heat transfer correlations is assessed by the means of the new experimental data.