Flow and heat transfer of couple stress nanofluid sandwiched between viscous fluids

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study is a numerical analysis of steady-state heat transfer behavior of couple-stress nanofluid sandwiched between viscous fluids. It should be noted that this research deals with the development of a cooling system for the electronic devices. Design/methodology/approach: Stokes model is used to define the couple-stress fluid and the single-phase nanofluid model is used to define the nanofluid transport processes. The fluids in all regions are assumed to be incompressible, immiscible and the transport properties in all the three layers are assumed to be constant. The governing coupled linear ordinary differential equations are made dimensionless by using appropriate fundamental quantities. The exact solutions obtained for the velocity and temperature fields are evaluated numerically for various model parameters. Findings: The results are demonstrated using different types of nanoparticles such as copper, silver, silicon oxide (SiO2), titanium oxide (TiO2) and diamond. The investigations are carried out using copper–water nanofluid for different values of couple-stress parameter a with a range of 0 = a = 12, solid volume fraction ? with a range of 0.0 ? ? ? 0.05, Eckert number Ec with a range of 0.001 ? Ec ? 6 and Prandtl number Pr with a range of 0.001 ? Pr ? 6. It was found that the Nusselt number increases by increasing the couple stress parameter, Eckert number and Prandtl number and it decreases with a growth of the solid volume fraction parameter. It was also observed that using SiO2–water nanofluid, the optimal Nusselt number is obtained. Further, using copper, silver, diamond and TiO2, nanoparticles and water as a base fluid does not show any significant changes in the rate of heat transfer. The couple-stress parameter enhances the velocity and temperature fields whereas the solid volume fraction suppresses the flow field for both Newtonian and couple-stress fluid. Originality/value: The originality of this work is to analyze the heat transfer behavior of couple-stress nanofluid sandwiched between viscous fluids. The results would benefit scientists and engineers to become familiar with the analysis of convective heat transfer and flow structures in nanofluids and the way to predict the heat transfer rate in advanced technical systems, in industrial sectors including transportation, power generation, chemical sectors, electronics, etc. © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited.