A comparative investigation on the accuracy of magnetic force models in ferrohydrodynamics

This paper investigates the accuracy of the magnetic force models which are conventionally used for simulation of ferrofluid flow and heat transfer. Three different correlations provided in finite volume method have been separately used to calculate the forced convective heat transfer of magnetite (Fe3O4) ferrofluid flowing in a miniature heat sink Simulations have been carried out at different Reynolds numbers, volume fractions and magnetic field intensities. The accuracy of the magnetic force models have been evaluated by comparing the numerical results with the experimental data. Therefore, the reliable working conditions for each magnetic force model have been determined. It is shown that predictions of all the magnetic force models are qualitatively similar. However, the models exhibit noticeable discrepancy due to the different magnetic susceptibility correlations. The accuracy of the all models decreases with increase of the magnetic field intensity while different behavior is observed with volume fraction and Reynolds number. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.