Experimental investigation of flow and heat transfer characteristics of a vertical narrow channel with uniform
heat flux condition are conducted to analysis the effect of wall heating on the laminar to turbulent
transition. The friction factor in the heating condition is compared with that in the adiabatic condition
and the results show that wall heating leads to the delay of laminar to turbulent transition. In addition,
the heat transfer characteristic indicates that the critical Reynolds number at the point of laminar flow
breakdown increases with the increase of fluid temperature difference, and the local Nusselt number
at the point of laminar breakdown increases with the increase of the inlet Reynolds number. The analyses
of the flow and heat transfer characteristics both indicate that the heating has a stabilizing effect on the
water flow at present experimental scale.