The divergence-free time-independent velocity vector field has been determined so as to maximise heat transfer between two parallel plates of a constant temperature difference under the constraint of fixed total enstrophy. The present variational problem is the same as that first formulated by Hassanzadeh et al. (2014); however, a search range of optimal states has been extended to a three-dimensional velocity field. The scaling of the Nusselt number N u with the Péclet number P e (i.e., the square root of the non-dimensionalised enstrophy with thermal diffusion timescale), N u ∼ P e 2/3 , has been found in the threedimensional optimal states, corresponding to the asymptotic scaling with the Rayleigh number Ra, N u ∼ Ra 1/2 , in extremely-high-Ra convective turbulence, and thus to the Taylor energy dissipation law in high-Reynolds-number turbulence. At P e ∼ 10 0 , a twodimensional array of large-scale convection rolls provides maximal heat transfer. A threedimensional optimal solution emerges from bifurcation on the two-dimensional solution branch at higher P e. At P e 10 3 , the optimised velocity fields consist of convection cells with hierarchical self-similar vortical structures, and the temperature fields exhibit a logarithmic mean profile near the walls.

Optimal heat transfer enhancement has been explored theoretically in plane Couette flow. The velocity field to be optimised is time-independent and incompressible, and temperature is determined in terms of the velocity as a solution to an advection-diffusion equation. The Prandtl number is set to unity, and consistent boundary conditions are imposed on the velocity and the temperature fields. The excess of a wall heat flux (or equivalently total scalar dissipation) over total energy dissipation is taken as an objective functional, and by using a variational method the Euler-Lagrange equations are derived, which are solved numerically to obtain the optimal states in the sense of maximisation of the functional. The laminar conductive field is an optimal state at low Reynolds number Re ∼ 10 0 . At higher Reynolds number Re ∼ 10 1 , however, the optimal state exhibits a streamwise-independent two-dimensional velocity field. The two-dimensional field consists of large-scale circulation rolls that play a role in heat transfer enhancement with respect to the conductive state as in thermal convection. A further increase of the Reynolds number leads to a three-dimensional optimal state at Re 10 2 . In the three-dimensional velocity field there appear smaller-scale hierarchical quasi-streamwise vortex tubes near the walls in addition to the large-scale rolls. The streamwise vortices are tilted in the spanwise direction so that they may produce the anticyclonic vorticity antiparallel to the mean-shear vorticity, bringing about significant three-dimensionality. The isotherms wrapped around the tilted anticyclonic vortices undergo the cross-axial shear of the mean flow, so that the spacing of the wrapped isotherms is narrower and so the temperature gradient is steeper than those around a purely streamwise (twodimensional) vortex tube, intensifying scalar dissipation and so a wall heat flux. Moreover, the tilted anticyclonic vortices induce the flow towards the wall to push low-(or high-) temperature fluids on the hot (or cold) wall, enhancing a wall heat flux. The optimised three-dimensional velocity fields achieve a much higher wall heat flux and much lower energy dissipation than those of plane Couette turbulence.

Abstract

Abstract

Direct numerical simulations have been performed for heat and momentum transfer in internally heated turbulent shear flow with constant bulk mean velocity and temperature, $u_{b}$ and $\theta _{b}$ , between parallel, isothermal, no-slip and permeable walls. The wall-normal transpiration velocity on the walls $y=\pm h$ is assumed to be proportional to the local pressure fluctuations, i.e. $v=\pm \beta p/\rho$ (Jiménez et al., J. Fluid Mech., vol. 442, 2001, pp. 89–117). The temperature is supposed to be a passive scalar, and the Prandtl number is set to unity. Turbulent heat and momentum transfer in permeable-channel flow for the dimensionless permeability parameter $\beta u_b=0.5$ has been found to exhibit distinct states depending on the Reynolds number $Re_b=2h u_b/\nu$ . At $Re_{b}\lesssim 10^4$ , the classical Blasius law of the friction coefficient and its similarity to the Stanton number, $St\approx c_{f}\sim Re_{b}^{-1/4}$ , are observed, whereas at $Re_{b}\gtrsim 10^4$ , the so-called ultimate scaling, $St\sim Re_b^0$ and $c_{f}\sim Re_b^0$ , is found. The ultimate state is attributed to the appearance of large-scale intense spanwise rolls with the length scale of $O(h)$ arising from the Kelvin–Helmholtz type of shear-layer instability over the permeable walls. The large-scale rolls can induce large-amplitude velocity fluctuations of $O(u_b)$ as in free shear layers, so that the Taylor dissipation law $\epsilon \sim u_{b}^{3}/h$ (or equivalently $c_{f}\sim Re_b^0$ ) holds. In spite of strong turbulence promotion there is no flow separation, and thus large-amplitude temperature fluctuations of $O(\theta _b)$ can also be induced similarly. As a consequence, the ultimate heat transfer is achieved, i.e. a wall heat flux scales with $u_{b}\theta _{b}$ (or equivalently $St\sim Re_b^0$ ) independent of thermal diffusivity, although the heat transfer on the walls is dominated by thermal conduction.