Reduced Navier-Stokes Simulation of Incompressible Microchannel Flows

Abstract

The objective of this research is to investigate numerically the effects of temperature dependent viscosity and thermal conductivity on friction characteristics of incompressible flow in long microchannels involving large temperature variations. The physical properties of water change significantly with temperature. These property changes result in highly nonlinear temperature, pressure, Reynolds number, and f ⋅ Re distributions along the microchannel axis. These temperature effects must be taken into account to accurately predict the friction characteristics of incompressible microchannel flows. The major advantage of the present numerical procedure is its fast speed due to the parabolic character of the governing equations and the finite-difference method used. It is at least two to three orders of magnitude faster than the full Navier-Stokes simulation.

Acknowledgments

The support of this work by the National Science Council of Taiwan, R.O.C., under contract NSC94-2212-E-032-007 is gratefully acknowledged.