Abstract
The present paper presents a numerical investigation treating the fluid-structure interaction during CNT-water nanofluid mixed convection in a micro-channel equipped with elastic fins. A numerical framework for simulating the fluid–structure interaction is proposed by using the Finite Element Method (FEM) in COMSOL Multiphysics. To prepare the numerical model, the micro-channel boundaries are considered as rigid, and the fins are elastic. Under periodic fully developed inlet boundary condition the effects of CNT volume fraction and the average inlet velocity on the flow structure, temperature field, heat transfer, drag and lift coefficients are studied. Results highlight the major effect of the fin oscillations to reduce the lift and drag forces and to improve the heat transfer and cooling the outlet flow from the cylindrical micro-channel. The dispersion of CNT nanoparticles in water-based fluid enhances considerably the convection process. In fact, it is remarked that due to the high thermal conductivity of CNT-water nanofluid the Nusselt number increases for higher CNT concentration especially for higher inlet velocities.