Abstract
PIV measurements were made in this study to discuss the flow and turbulence characteristics of viscoelastic fluid flow in a serpentine square channel under low Reynolds number conditions (Re=0.15〜3.3). Polyacrylamide solution was used as viscoelastic fluid, and was compared with the results of Newtonian fluid. While no fluctuations and secondary flows were observed in the Newtonian fluid case, an asymmetric distribution of the mean velocity was obtained in the viscoelastic fluid case. Further, in the downstream of the inflection point of the curves, maximum values of the fluctuation intensities were observed. This could be attributed to the change of the streamwise position where the crossing flow exists at the inflection point. The mean fluctuation intensity increased markedly as Re increased, and showed a good correlation with the relationship between the heat transfer coefficient and Re.
