Effects of Intrinsic Three Dimensionality on Heat Transfer and Friction Loss in a Periodic Array of Parallel Plates

Effects of intrinsic three dimensionality on predicting heat transfer and friction loss in a periodic array of parallel plates have been analyzed extensively. The current study shows that at high Reynolds numbers, two-dimensional simulations significantly overpredict the heat transfer and other rms quantities. Though only a small difference in overall friction loss was observed between the two-dimensional and three-dimensional simulations, the two components of the friction loss— form drag and skin friction—have been significantly overpredicted and underpredicted, respectively, in the two-dimensional simulations. These differences have been identified as the result of different flow characteristics: the strong coherent spanwise vortices in two-dimensional simulations and the weakening of spanwise vortices due to the presence of streamwise vortices in corresponding three-dimensional simulations.