Numerical Study of the Thermal and Hydraulic Characteristics of the SiO2–Water Nanofluid through a Backward-Facing Step

Abstract

The work of this paper is devoted to the two-dimensional numerical investigation of the turbulent forced convection through backward-facing step. Two cases are taken into account. For the first, the bottom wall is smooth; but for the second case, it is corrugated with a triangular base containing ten corrugations. A uniform heat flux is imposed on the bottom wall. A flow of a nanofluid consisting of silicon dioxide SiO2 nanoparticles dispersed in a base fluid (water) flows through this step.The flow equations were discretized by the finite volume method. For modeling turbulence, the K-ɛ-RNG model was applied to analyze Reynolds number effect, the volume fraction and the size of the particle. Numerical simulations were conducted for various Reynolds between 10,000 and 40,000; volume fractions of nanoparticles which vary from 0 to 5% and particle diameter dp equal to 30; 50 and 70 nm. We noted that the obtained findings are in good conformity with those of the literature.