Transient Free Convection Fluid Flow in a Vertical Microchannel as Described by the Hyperbolic Heat Conduction Model

Abstract

The transient hydrodynamics and thermal behaviors of fluid flow in an open-ended vertical parallel-plate microchannel are investigated analytically under the effect of the hyperbolic heat conduction model. The model that combines both the continuum approach and the possibility of slip at the boundary is adopted in this study. The effects of Knudsen number Kn and thermal relaxation time τ on the microchannel hydrodynamics and thermal behaviors are investigated using the hyperbolic and the parabolic heat conduction models. It is found that as Kn increases, the slip in the hydrodynamic and thermal boundary condition increases. Also, this slip increases as τ decreases.