Effect of transverse and parallel magnetic fields on thermal and thermo-hydraulic performances of ferro-nanofluid flow in trapezoidal microchannel heat sink

Purpose This paper aims to study the thermal and thermo-hydraulic performances of ferro-nanofluid flow in a three-dimensional trapezoidal microchannel heat sink (TMCHS) under uniform heat flux and magnetic fields. Design/methodology/approach To investigate the effect of direction of Lorentz force the magnetic field has been applied: transversely in the x direction (Case I);transversely in the y direction (Case II); and parallel in the z direction (Case III). The three-dimensional governing equations with the associated boundary conditions for ferro-nanofluid flow and heat transfer have been solved by using an element-based finite volume method. The coupled algorithm has been used to solve the velocity and pressure fields. The convergence is reached when the accuracy of solutions attains 10–6 for the continuity and momentum equations and 10–9 for the energy equation. Findings According to thermal indicators the Case III has the best performance, but according to performance evaluation criterion (PEC) the Case II is the best. The simulation results show by increasing the Hartmann number from 0 to 12, there is an increase for PEC between 845.01% and 2997.39%, for thermal resistance between 155.91% and 262.35% and ratio of the maximum electronic chip temperature difference to heat flux between 155.16% and 289.59%. Also, the best thermo-hydraulic performance occurs at Hartmann number of 12, pressure drop of 10 kPa and volume fraction of 2%. Research limitations/implications The embedded electronic chip on the base plate generates heat flux of 60 kW/m2. Simulations have been performed for ferro-nanofluid with volume fractions of 1%, 2% and 3%, pressure drops of 10, 20 and 30 kPa and Hartmann numbers of 0, 3, 6, 9 and 12. Practical implications The authors obtained interesting results, which can be used as a design tool for magnetohydrodynamics micro pumps, microelectronic devices, micro heat exchanger and micro scale cooling systems. Originality/value Review of the literature indicated that there has been no study on the effects of magnetic field on thermal and thermo-hydraulic performances of ferro-nanofluid flow in a TMCHS, so far. In this three dimensional study, flow of ferro-nanofluid through a trapezoidal heat sink with five trapezoidal microchannels has been considered. In all of previous studies, in which the effect of magnetic field has been investigated, the magnetic field has been applied only in one direction. So as another innovation of the present research, the effect of applying magnetic field direction (transverse and parallel) on thermo-hydraulic behavior of TMCHS is investigated.

Motion of an Elastic Capsule in a Trapezoidal Microchannel under Stokes Flow Conditions

Even though the research interest in the last decades has been mainly focused on the capsule dynamics in cylindrical or rectangular ducts, channels with asymmetric cross-sections may also be desirable especially for capsule migration and sorting. Therefore, in the present study we investigate computationally the motion of an elastic spherical capsule in an isosceles trapezoidal microchannel at low and moderate flow rates under the Stokes regime. The steady-state capsule location is quite close to the location where the single-phase velocity of the surrounding fluid is maximized. Owing to the asymmetry of the trapezoidal channel, the capsule’s steady-state shape is asymmetric while its membrane slowly tank-treads. In addition, our investigation reveals that tall trapezoidal channels with low base ratios produce significant off-center migration for large capsules compared to that for smaller capsules for a given channel length. Thus, we propose a microdevice for the sorting of artificial and physiological capsules based on their size, by utilizing tall trapezoidal microchannels with low base ratios. The proposed sorting microdevice can be readily produced via glass fabrication or as a microfluidic device via micromilling, while the required flow conditions do not cause membrane rupture.

Numerical Analysis of a Trapezoidal Microchannel for Hydrodynamic Detachment of Cells

Hydrodynamic shear force along the bottom microchannel wall has been utilized in cell adhesion studies to detach cells in microfluidic channels. Due to the small dimensions of microfluidic channels, the shear stress produced in a conventional microchannel is dependent mainly on the fluid velocity and channel height. The wall shear force magnitude increases as the channel height is reduced. However, a reduced channel height decreases the sample volume to be contained in the fluidic channel and also increases the pressure drop significantly which may fail the fluidic device. In this study, a novel microchannel with a trapezoidal structure was investigated using computational fluid dynamics simulations. The key fluidic properties, including wall shear stress, sample volume, and pressure drop of the trapezoidal microchannel are compared with those of a conventional straight channel with a reduced channel height. We found the trapezoidal structure produces a wall shear stress of 5 Pa in the region of interest similar to that of the straight channel with a small channel height (50 μm) while having less than 30 percent pressure drop. Additionally, the pressure drop can be reduced by modifying the geometry of the trapezoidal channel to minimize pressure loss.

Investigation of laminar fluid flow and heat transfer of nanofluid in trapezoidal microchannel with different aspect ratios

Purpose In the present study, laminar steady flow of nanofluid through a trapezoidal channel is studied by using of finite volume method. The main aim of this paper is to study the effect of changes in geometric parameters, including internal and external dimensions on the behavior of heat transfer and fluid flow. For each parameter, an optimum ratio will be presented. Design/methodology/approach The results showed that in a channel cell, changing any geometric parameter may affect the temperature and flow field, even though the volume of the channel is kept constant. For a relatively small hydraulic diameter, microchannels with different angles have a similar dimensionless heat flux, while channels with bigger dimensions show various values of dimensionless heat flux. By increasing the angles of trapezoidal microchannels, dimensionless heat flux per unit of volume increases. As a result, the maximum and minimum heat transfer rate occurs in a trapezoidal microchannel with 75° and 30 internal’s, respectively. In the study of dimensionless heat flux rate with hydraulic diameter variations, an optimum hydraulic diameter (Dh) was observed in which the heat transfer rate per unit volume attains maximum value. Findings This optimum state is predicted to happen at a side angle of 75° and hydraulic diameter of 290 µm. In addition, in trapezoidal microchannel with higher aspect ratio, dimensionless heat flux rate is lower. Changing side angles of the channels and pressure drop have the same effect on pressure drop. For a constant pressure drop, if changing the side angles causes an increase in the rectangular area of the channel cross-section and the effect of the sides are not felt by the fluid, then the dimensionless heat flux will increase. By increasing the internal aspect ratio (t_2/t_3), the amount of t_3 decreases, and consequently, the conduction resistance of the hot surface decreases. Originality/value The effects of geometry of the microchannel, including internal and external dimensions on the behavior of heat transfer and fluid flow for pressure ranges between 2 and 8 kPa.