Thermo-hydrodynamic behaviour of a Newtonian fluid in a backward facing step including a fixed cylinder equipped with an elastic fin

In this paper, a numerical study of the thermo-hydrodynamic behaviour of a Newtonian fluid in the presence of an elastic fin subjected to a laminar flow of a fluid inside a backward-facing step tube has been presented. The solid fin is fixed to a cylindrical obstacle right next to the abrupt widening part of the backward-facing step. The lower part of this tube has been exposed to a hot temperature, while the fluid at the tube inlet is subjected to a cold temperature. Our aim is to highlight the influence of the inertia and elasticity of the solid fin on the hydrodynamic and thermal structures of the fluid on the one hand, and on its deformation on the other hand. The differential system describing the physical phenomena including the equations governing forced convection and deformation of the structure has been solved by using the finite element method taking into account the Eulerian-Lagrangian formulation (ALE). Numerical results indicated that the heat transfer can be relatively affected by the variation of the elastic modulus of the fin material. The effect of these control parameters on the Nusselt number is studied.