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

Ean Hin Ooi, Viktor Popov

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62 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

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.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)178-188
Number of pages11
JournalInternational Journal of Thermal Sciences
Volume65
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

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

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