A Numerical Study to Investigate the Hydrodynamic Properties of Nanowire Motion in Liquid

Abstract

Manipulating micro(nano)-sized entities in liquid environment is a challenging yet necessary task in nanoscience and nanotechnology development. Due to the small dimensions, viscous behavior dominates the micro(nano)-sized obejcts motion. In this study, a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) approach has been used to investigate hydrodynamic effects on a nanowire (NM) translating an rotating about its long and short axis. Several numerical methods dealing with solid motion in fluid, including some CFD methods and Finite element analysis (FEA), have been compared. The change in drag coefficient with NW length, NW diameter, translational velocity, rotation speed, and wall effects has been researched. As a model, nanowires with 1-10 µm dimensions and 50 nm-250 nm diameters were investigated in liquid, with velocities of 0.5-500 µm/s. Nanowire is rotated about its long axis with an angular velocity of ω=0.25π, 0.5π, 1.0π, 2.0π rad/s, and about its short axis with a fluid flow allow the rotation of the nanowire whose one end is contsrained to a rotational motion around x and y axis. These models were also compared with the existing analytical models. Good agreement was observed between the numerical results and analytical calculations. The FEA model is also repeated in the closed boundary to investigate the wall effects on the nanowire’s motion in liquid environment.