Numerical study of influence of nanoparticle shape on the natural convection in Cu-water nanofluid

作者：Ooi Eon Hin^*; Popov Viktor

来源：International Journal of Thermal Sciences, 2013, 65: 178-188.

DOI：10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2012.10.020

• Nanofluids
• Spherical and spheroidal nanoparticles
• Velocity-vorticity
• Navier-Stokes equations
• Meshless method

The natural convection flow of the Cu-water nanofluid inside a square cavity is simulated by using the radial basis integral equation (RBIE) method. The RBIE is a meshless method and it has the benefit of solving at each node for the velocity and its spatial gradients via integral equations. The effects of the spherical and spheroidal nanoparticles (NPs) on the natural convection flow of the nanofluids are examined. The different NPs shapes and sizes were found to affect differently the thermal conductivity and the viscosity of the nanofluids. Numerical results showed that the oblate spheroid with aspect ratio of 10 produced the largest enhancement of the overall heat transfer characteristic.

• 出版日期2013-3