Numerical Study of the Elasto-Hydrodynamic Behavior of a Metallic Structure Subjected to a Nanofluid Flow

Abstract

In this paper, the behavior of an elastic barrier subjected to isothermal laminar flow of Al2O3-water nanofluid in a channel has been studied numerically by the finite element method. A CFD based on the arbitrary Lagrange-Euler (ALE) formulation, has been developed in an attempt to solve the Navier-Stokes and stress-strain equations of the structure. The objective is to study the effects of inertia (Re) and nanoparticle volume fraction (φ) on the overall hydrodynamic behavior, as well as on the nanofluid-structure interface. The results showed that the deformation of the structure was mainly caused by the pressure loading of the nanofluid and the viscous drag imposed on the structure walls. In addition, the structure was strongly affected by the increase in Reynolds number and volume fraction of the nanoparticles. Finally, a numerical correlation was established to determine the maximum displacement caused by the bending of the structure.