Rotation and migration of nanoparticles for heat transfer augmentation in nanofluids by molecular dynamics simulation

Abstract

Nanofluids are a new generation of high-efficiency refrigerant with abnormal increased thermal conductivity and convective heat transfer properties. In view of the paucity of research work on the contribution of nanoparticle Brownian motion for the thermal conductivity augmentation, the present paper carries out a series of MD simulations to explorer the order of magnitude of nanoparticle Brownian motion and discusses the effect of nanoparticle Brownian motion for thermal conductivity enhancement of nanofluids. Various influence factors including nanoparticle shapes, sizes, and materials are considered. The Brownian motion of nanoparticles is decomposed into rotation and migration and calculated by MD simulation. By means of Peclet number, the effect of nanoparticle Brownian motion for thermal conductivity enhancement of nanofluids is discussed.