Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Modelling of Heat Transfer in Microchannel Flows: Challenges and Progress

摘要

The now massive interest in heat transfer in microscale devices, ranging in scale from micro-chip cooling to compact heat exchanges, has introduced many new challenges in the accurate numerical simulation of heat transfer. Commercial Software has largely been developed for conventional-scale applications and has been validated much less extensively for micro-scale applications. In this presentation an overview of the challenges faced in the modelling of micro-scale flows in passages with hydraulic diameters of around a millimetre will be given. Then examples drawn from our recent work in the study of: (i) heat transfer in laminar flow in periodic zig-zag passages, (ii) turbulent flow around a 90 degree bend, and (iii) simulation of Taylor bubbles and annular flows will be presented. A key theme of the presentation will be the need to ensure proper numerical resolution and to validate constitutive physical models.