The effects of sound on forced convection over a flat plate

An experimental investigation into the effects of a sound field on the time-averaged heat transfer from, and drag on, a flat plate with a square leading edge having separated and reattached flow is reported. Increasing the sound pressure level of an asymmetric acoustic field decreases the length of the separation bubble and increases the maximum heat transfer coefficient at reattachment and the average coefficient over the plate. The drag coefficient on the plate in the absence of sound increased slightly with free stream velocity. The reattachment Nusselt number was found to correlate simply with reattachment Reynolds number, as found previously from experiments in which the reattachment length was varied without sound by changing the leading edge geometry or angle of attack of the plate.