Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
JOURNAL OF THE BRAZILIAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING, cilt.48, sa.2, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Efficient thermal management plays a critical role in the performance and reliability of compact heat exchangers and electronic cooling systems. To address this need, this study investigates whether biomimetic S-shaped turbulators, inspired by natural flow paths, can significantly enhance heat transfer while maintaining acceptable flow resistance in horizontal channels. The central research question focuses on how key geometrical parameters-turbulator height (H), transverse pitch (Sy), curvature radius (R), and Reynolds number (Re)-influence both heat transfer enhancement and pressure drop penalty. A combined methodology of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and response surface methodology (RSM) with central composite design (CCD) was employed to systematically evaluate the parameter space. Regression models were developed and subsequently validated through targeted experiments. The results demonstrate that the use of S-shaped turbulators can increase the Nusselt number by up to 101.7% compared to a smooth channel, though with a corresponding rise in friction factor. Optimization identified an optimal configuration (H = 27.8788 mm, Sy = 29.0 mm, R = 91.7172 mm, Re = 25,000) that balances heat transfer enhancement and flow resistance. Furthermore, multi-objective optimization using Pareto front analysis and the TOPSIS method revealed several trade-off solutions. For example, a high-performance solution and a low-resistance solution were identified, demonstrating the flexibility of the optimization framework to meet different design priorities. The consistency between Pareto-optimal and TOPSIS-ranked solutions further validated the robustness of the approach. Experimental validation confirmed the accuracy of the predictive models, with mean absolute errors of 7.04% for Nu and - 3.18% for f. In conclusion, the findings highlight that biomimetic turbulators provide an effective design strategy to achieve high heat transfer performance with minimal pumping power increase. The developed framework offers promising opportunities for designing compact, energy-efficient cooling systems.