Forced convection heat transfer simulation using dissipative particle dynamics with energy conservation

Abstract

Dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) with energy conservation was applied to simulate forced convection in parallel-plate channels with boundary conditions of constant wall temperature (CWT) and constant wall heat flux (CHF). DPD is a coarse-grained version of molecular dynamics. An additional governing equation for energy conservation was solved along with conventional DPD equations where inter-particle heat flux accounts for changes in mechanical and internal energies when particles interact with surrounding particles. The solution domain was considered to be two-dimensional with periodic boundary condition in the flow direction. Additional layers of particles on top and bottom of the channel were utilized to apply no-slip velocity and temperature boundary conditions. The governing equations for energy conservation were modified based on periodic fully developed velocity and temperature conditions. The results were shown via temperature profiles across the channel cross section. The Nusselt numbers were calculated from the temperature gradient at the wall using a second order accurate forward difference technique. The results agreed well with the exact solutions to within 2.3%.