The purpose of this paper is to reexamine the significance and nature of two-dimensional effects in fin assemblies. In particular, consideration is given to concerns expressed in the literature that the standard approach commonly leads to large errors due to two-dimensional effects. In addition, for the purpose of establishing a practical means of evaluating the level of significance of two-dimensional effects, an approximate first-order two-dimensional thermal circuit approach to analyzing heat transfer in fin assemblies is developed.

Issue Section:
Technical Briefs
Keywords:
Augmentation and Enhancement, Finned Surfaces
Topics:
Heat transfer, Circuits, Errors
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