Numerical study of fluid flow and heat transfer in a flat-plate channel with longitudinal vortex generators by applying field synergy principle analysis

Three dimensional numerical simulations are performed on laminar heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics of a flat-plate channel with longitudinal vortex generators (LVGs). The effects of two different shaped LVGs, rectangular winglet pair (RWP) and delta winglet pair (DWP) with two different configurations, common-flow-down (CFD) and common-flow-up (CFU), are studied. The numerical results indicate that the application of LVGs effectively enhances heat transfer of the channel. According to the performance evaluation parameter, (Nu/Nu0)/(f/f0), the channel with DWP has better overall performance than RWP; the CFD and CFU configurations of DWP have almost the same overall performance; the CFD configuration has a better overall performance than the CFU configuration for RWP. The basic mechanism of heat transfer enhancement by LVGs can be well described by the field synergy principle.