A transient natural convection of micropolar fluids over a vertical cylinder

• Published in: Heat and mass transfer Vol. 46; no. 11-12; pp. 1277 - 1285
• Main Authors: Rani, H. P., Kim, Chang Nyung
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01-12-2010; Springer
• Subjects: Convection and heat transfer; Engineering; Engineering Thermodynamics; Exact sciences and technology; Fluid dynamics; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Heat and Mass Transfer; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Laminar boundary layers; Laminar flows; Non-newtonian fluid flows; Original; Physics; Thermodynamics; Turbulent flows, convection, and heat transfer; Natural Convection; Thermal Boundary Layer; Heat Transfer Rate; Newtonian Fluid; Nusselt Number; Vertical cylinder; Temperature distribution; Skin friction; Digital simulation; Natural convection; Velocity distribution; Micropolar fluid; Laminar flow; Modelling; Incompressible fluid; Viscous fluids; Boundary layers; Heat transfer
• ISSN: 0947-7411; 1432-1181
• DOI: 10.1007/s00231-010-0657-8

A transient free convective boundary layer flow of micropolar fluids past a semi-infinite cylinder is analysed in the present study. The transformed dimensionless governing equations for the flow, microrotation and heat transfer are solved by using the implicit scheme. For the validation of the current numerical method heat transfer results for a Newtonian fluid case where the vortex viscosity is zero are compared with those available in the existing literature, and an excellent agreement is obtained. The obtained results concerning velocity, microrotation and temperature across the boundary layer are illustrated graphically for different values of various parameters and the dependence of the flow and temperature fields on these parameters is discussed. An increase in the vortex viscosity tends to increase the magnitude of microrotation and thus decreases the peak velocity of fluid flow. An increase in the vortex viscosity in micropolar fluids is shown to decrease the heat transfer rate.