Unsteady squeezing flow of a magnetized nano-lubricant between parallel disks with Robin boundary conditions

Abstract

The aim of the present work is to examine the impact of magnetized nanoparticles (NPs) in enhancement of heat transport in a tribological system subjected to convective type heating (Robin) boundary conditions. The regime examined comprises the squeezing transition of a magnetic (smart) Newtonian nano-lubricant between two analogous disks under an axial magnetism. The lower disk is permeable whereas the upper disk is solid. The mechanisms of haphazard motion of NPs and thermophoresis are simulated. The non-dimensional problem is solved numerically using a finite difference method in the MATLAB bvp4c solver based on Lobotto quadrature, to scrutinize the significance of thermophoresis parameter, squeezing number, Hartmann number, Prandtl number, and Brownian motion parameter on velocity, temperature, nanoparticle concentration, Nusselt number, factor of friction, and Sherwood number distributions. The obtained results for the friction factor are validated against previously published results. It is found that friction factor at the disk increases with intensity in applied magnetic field. The haphazard (Brownian) motion of nanoparticles causes an enhancement in thermal field. Suction and injection are found to induce different effects on transport characteristics depending on the specification of equal or unequal Biot numbers at the disks. The main quantitative outcome is that, unequal Biot numbers produce significant cooling of the regime for both cases of disk suction or injection, indicating that Robin boundary conditions yield substantial deviation from conventional thermal boundary conditions. Higher thermophoretic parameter also elevates temperatures in the regime. The nanoparticles concentration at the disk is boosted with higher values of Brownian motion parameter. The response of temperature is similar in both suction and injection cases; however, this tendency is quite opposite for nanoparticle concentrations. In the core zone, the resistive magnetic body force dominates and this manifests in a significant reduction in velocity, that is damping. The heat build-up in squeeze films (which can lead to corrosion and degradation of surfaces) can be successfully removed with magnetic nanoparticles leading to prolonged serviceability of lubrication systems and the need for less maintenance.