Spectral computation of reactive bi-directional hydromagnetic non-Newtonian convection flow from a stretching upper parabolic surface in non-Darcyporous medium

This paper presents a mathematical model for bi-directional convection magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) tangent hyperbolic nanofluid flow from the upper horizontal subsurface of a stretching parabolic surface to a non-Darcian porous medium, as a simulation of nanocoating. Chemical reaction, activation energy and thermo solutal buoyancy effects are included. The Darcy–Brinkman–Forchheimer model is deployed which permits the analysis of inertial (second order) porous drag effects. The Buongiorno nanoscale model is deployed which includes Brownian motion and thermophoresis effects. The dimensionless, transformed, nonlinear, coupled ordinary differential equations are solved by implementing the spectral relaxation method (SRM). Validation with previous studies is included. The numerical influence of key parameters on transport characteristics is evaluated and visualized graphically. Velocity is elevated (and momentum boundary layer thickness is reduced) with increasing wall thickness parameter, permeability parameter, Forchheimer parameter, Weissenberg (rheological) parameter and modified Hartmann (magnetic body force) number. Velocity enhancement is also computed with increment in stretching rate parameter, rheological power-law index, thermal Grashof number, and species (solutal) Grashof number, and momentum boundary layer thickness diminishes. Temperature is suppressed with increasing stretching rate index and Prandtl number whereas it is substantially elevated with increasing Brownian motion and thermophoresis parameters. Velocity and temperature profiles are reduced adjacent to the parabolic surface with larger wall thickness parameter for stretching rate index [Formula: see text]1, whereas the reverse behavior is observed for stretching rate index [Formula: see text]1. Nanoparticle concentration magnitude is depleted with larger numeric of Lewis number and the Brownian motion parameter, whereas it is enhanced with greater values of the stretching index and thermophoresis parameter. The nanoparticle concentration magnitude is reduced with an increase in chemical reaction rate parameter whereas it is boosted with activation energy parameter. Skin friction, Nusselt number and Sherwood number are also computed. The study is relevant to electromagnetic nanomaterials coating processes with complex chemical reactions.

Laser Scanner-Based 3D Digitization for the Reflective Shape Measurement of a Parabolic Trough Collector

In concentrated solar power technology, the precise shape of the reflective surfaces is crucial for efficiency. Considering the geometry and size of a parabolic trough collector, measuring the actual shape is not trivial and some techniques can only be adopted during the assembly operations, evaluating only the manufacturing and alignment processes. The method proposed and tested in this work exploits a laser scanner-based three-dimensional digitization technique that can be used without any marker or other tools, and is attached to the structure. This technique is particularly suitable for assessing the behavior and the optical efficiency of the collectors under load and for validating a finite element model of the structure. The method defines the shape of the parabolic surface by collecting a 3D point cloud of the parabolic surface using a laser scanner. The measured form can then be compared with the ideal shape obtained from a finite element analysis of the structure subject to the gravity field. The comparison can also be performed when the collector is loaded by known forces or torques, with the finite element model reproducing the actual loading scenario. The object of the case study of this work was a 12 m wide full-scale prototype trough collector manufactured at the Politecnico di Milano. The uncertainty of the 3D measurements, acquiring twelve images in different positions, was verified to be less than 3.6 mm.