Heat Transfer Characteristics of a Quiescent Fluid over a Moving Flat Surface

Abstract

Optimizing thermal control methods and enhancing the efficiency of various engineering processes, such as the cooling of hot moving surfaces, is imperative. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate heat transfer and temperature distributions across moving surfaces in stationary fluids. In this study, the combined effects of viscous dissipation, temperature-dependent viscosity, and a moving surface in a quiescent fluid on the temperature and velocity profiles are investigated. A two-dimensional steady laminar boundary layer flow of an incompressible Newtonian fluid, driven by the movement of the surface where viscosity is an inverse function of temperature, is analyzed. The effects of flow parameters, including Reynolds number, Eckert number, Prandtl number, variable viscosity, and surface velocity on temperature and velocity profiles, are determined. The governing boundary layer partial differential equations are transformed into non-dimensional form and solved using the central finite difference numerical method, implemented in MATLAB software. The numerical results demonstrate that an increase in the Reynolds number and the variable viscosity parameter leads to an increase in the velocity profiles. Additionally, an increase in Reynolds number, Prandtl number, variable viscosity, and surface velocity leads to a decrease in temperature profiles. Finally, an increase in the Eckert number results in higher temperature profiles. Therefore, with suitable flow parameters, the temperature of the fluid can be regulated. These findings are useful in cooling hot sheets or metallic plates drawn over a quiescent fluid to obtain high-quality final products.