Computational fluid dynamic study of fluid flow of single phase in microchannel

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is an analysis of a system using computer-assisted simulations to solve the governing partial differential equations of fluid flow, heat transfer, and chemical reactions. Microchannels are channels with hydraulic diameter less than 1 mm, and the flow condition depends on the surface condition of the channels. The single phase is the single medium used inside the microchannel for the simulations. Ansys Fluent Software is used to do numerical simulations of single phase flow in microchannels to understand the effect of geometrical parameters on velocity profile, friction factor and Reynolds number. ANSYS Workbench is used to create the geometry of the problem and its meshing, which is then imported into ANSYS and resolved by Ansys Fluent. Data reduction is followed by a solution method and convergence criteria. Simulation will stop after the residue for continuity reaches 0.001. The results obtained from the numerical simulations will be compared to the existing previous researcher data for validation. When comparing the results to existing correlation, the existing correlation’s velocity profile has a more parabolic shape due to a smoother meshing surface. The velocity flow also worsens as the meshing surface gets rougher which is shown in the velocity contour along the channel. The predicted friction factor has a downward trend but has a difference where the existing correlation has a more linear downward trend. This is due to the number of cases being too few where the cases refer to the different velocity input. It can be concluded that a rougher mesh quality will reduce velocity in the channel which can be seen in the velocity profile and velocity contour along the channel. Next, the friction factor decreases as mesh quality becomes rougher. Additionally, when the friction factor decreases, Reynolds number will increase.