Heat transfer in a tube with pulsating flow and constant heat flux

The problem of pulsatile flow in a tube with constant heat flux at the wall is considered analytically to determine how pulsation affects the rate of heat transfer and how the phenomenon depends on the Prandtl number and on pulsation Frequency. The results indicate that in a range of moderate values of the frequency there is a positive peak in the effect of pulsation whereby the bulk temperature of the fluid and the Nusselt number are increased, but the effect is reversed when the frequency is outside this range. The peaks are higher at lower Prandtl numbers. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.