A numerical study on the buoyancy effect around slanted-pin fins mounted on a vertical plate (Part-II: Laminar mixed convection)

•The aero-thermal performance of slanted-pins on a vertical wall are examined.•The mixed convection heat transfer is studied numerically.•The modified Richardson number is varied in a laminar flow regime.•The fin-inclination angle showing the best performance is captured.•Differences from the forced- and natural- convection results are assessed. This paper presents a numerical study on the mixed convection heat transfer of slanted-pin fins mounted on a vertical heated wall for the laminar flow regime, which is an extension of the authors’ accompanying study (Oh et al. 2018) on the natural convection. Using the ideal gas assumption for the air, three-dimensional governing equations for fluid flow and heat transfer were calculated by imposing a periodic boundary condition in the horizontal lateral direction with the SIMPLE algorithm. The discrete ordinate method was also included to calculate the effect of radiation. The effects of the fin-inclination angle were investigated in a modified Richardson number range of 500–2500 by varying the Reynolds number at a fixed Grashof number. It was found that as the forced convection increases, the fin-inclination angle showing the best heat transfer performance changes from negative to positive fin angles. The critical Richardson number for this transition and the corresponding flow and heat-transfer characteristics in the mixed convection regime are summarized.