Effects of Viscous Dissipation on MHD Forced Convection of a Nanofluid in a Microchannel

This paper performs a numerical investigation of the viscous dissipation effects on the laminar forced convection of a nanofluid within a horizontal parallel plate microchannel in the presence of a uniform magnetic field. A uniform heat flux and also a uniform magnetic field are applied to the middle section of the micochannel, while the entry and exit sections of the microchannel are thermally insulated. The finite volume method along with the SIMPLE algorithm is used to solve the governing equations. The effects of relevant parameters such as Reynolds Number, solid volume fraction, Hartman and brinkman numbers on the flow and temperature fields and the heat transfer performance of the microchannel are examined against numerical predictions. The results show that the rate of heat transfer decreases with an increase in the Brinkman number. The results also show that in the absence of viscous dissipation the increase of solid volume fraction and Hartman number enhance the heat transfer performance of the microchannel. However, these parameters play a different role in the presence of viscous dissipation.