Finite element analysis of micropolar nanofluid flow through an inclined microchannel with thermal radiation

Abstract

PurposeIn recent years, microfluidics has turned into a very important region of research because of its wide range of applications such as microheat exchanger, micromixers fuel cells, cooling systems for microelectronic devices, micropumps and microturbines. Therefore, in this paper, micropolar nanofluid flow through an inclined microchannel is numerically investigated in the presence of convective boundary conditions. Heat transport of fluid includes radiative heat, viscous and Joule heating phenomena.Design/methodology/approachGoverning equations are nondimensionalized by using suitable dimensionless variables. The relevant dimensionless ordinary differential systems are solved by using variational finite element method. Detailed computations are done for velocity, microrotation and temperature functions. The influence of various parameters on entropy generation and the Bejan number is displayed and discussed.FindingsIt is established that the entropy generation rate increased with both Grashof number and Eckert number, while it decreased with nanoparticle volume fraction and material parameter. Temperature is decreased by increasing the volume fraction of Ag nanoparticle dispersed in water.Originality/valueAccording to the literature survey and the best of the author’s knowledge, no similar studies have been executed on micropolar nanofluid flow through an inclined microchannel with effect of viscous dissipation, Joule heating and thermal radiation.