Flow and Heat Transfer Characteristics and Structure Optimization of Helically Corrugated Tubes Based on Kriging Model

Building on the helical tube heat exchanger integrated with a corrugated structure, a novel type of helically corrugated tube heat exchanger is designed. Numerical simulations are conducted to investigate the effects of varying corrugation depths and pitches on flow and heat transfer performance. After the Kriging model is trained with numerical computation results, it can then predict the flow and heat transfer characteristics of a larger number of helically corrugated tube samples with different structure features. The structural parameter with a lower friction coefficient and a higher heat transfer efficiency are screened to optimize the heat transfer characteristics. The results indicate that the sudden change in the flow velocity generated by the corrugated structure and the secondary flow generated by the helical structure improve both heat transfer efficiency and flow resistance. The Kriging model has higher accuracy and efficiency in predicting the heat transfer characteristics. In the selected range of structural parameters, the helically corrugated tubes have a lower friction coefficient and a higher heat transfer efficiency when the corrugation depth, corrugation pitch, helical diameter, and helical pitch are 1.32, 27.99, 86.49, 57.85 mm, respectively. © 2024 Northeast University. All rights reserved.