The lattice Boltzmann method is a very successful numerical modeling method that has proved its effectiveness in many areas of study and especially in the field of fluid flow and thermo-hydrodynamic problems. In this paper, a new numerical model is introduced within the framework of the thermal lattice Boltzmann method to solve heat transfer problems with thermal contact resistance. It consists on an extension of the particle image model (PI) to the three dimensional configurations. To do so, we first present the thermal lattice Boltzmann method and the main methodology of the particle image model. After that, we extend the cited model to a novel one dedicated to simulate the heat transfer between two contacting media in the three dimensional scale. Finally, we provide a case of study to support this new methodology. The numerical results show a perfect agreement between the theoretical solution and the developed model, which proves its accuracy and effectiveness.

lattice Boltzmann method, heat transfer, thermal contact resistance, three dimensional model.