Heat Transfer Phenomena in Non-Newtonian Fluids

Heat transfer in non-Newtonian fluids spans a broad spectrum of applications, from polymer processing and food engineering to microfluidic cooling and biomedical devices. Unlike Newtonian liquids, these fluids exhibit shear‐dependent viscosity, viscoelasticity or yield stress, which profoundly alters thermal boundary layers, temperature distributions and convective heat‐transfer coefficients. In laminar flows, shear‐thinning liquids often yield enhanced heat transfer through reduced thermal entrance lengths, while shear‐thickening or viscoelastic responses can thicken boundary layers and raise local temperatures via viscous dissipation. In micro‐scale conduits, slip at walls and particle suspensions further modify both momentum and thermal fields, enabling tailored cooling strategies. Advances in analytical, numerical and experimental techniques have elucidated how rheological parameters such as the power‐law index, Weissenberg number and slip length govern Nusselt numbers, entrance‐region development and thermal stability. The interplay of shear‐induced heating and convective cooling underpins innovations in heat exchanger design, process intensification and the management of temperature‐sensitive materials globally.

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Heat Transfer Phenomena in Non-Newtonian Fluids publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in heat transfer phenomena in non-newtonian fluids across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Non-Newtonian fluid: A fluid whose viscosity depends on shear rate or exhibits elastic behaviour rather than remaining constant.

Power-law index: Parameter (n) in shear-stress–shear-rate relation that characterises shear-thinning (n<1) or shear-thickening (n>1) behaviour.

Viscous dissipation: Conversion of mechanical energy into heat due to internal friction in the fluid.

Nusselt number: Dimensionless measure of convective heat transfer relative to conductive transfer across a boundary layer.

Slip boundary condition: A model allowing nonzero fluid velocity at a wall, modifying shear and thermal boundary layers.

References

1. Thermal entry flow problem for Rabinowitsch fluid subject to circular tube and flat channel with uniform heat flux boundary conditions. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering (2023).
2. Full Solutions to Flow and Heat Transfer from Slip-Induced Microtube Shapes. Micromachines (2023).
3. Analytical solution for channel flow of a Giesekus fluid with non-zero solvent viscosity. Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics (2023).