Nanocomposite materials have broadened significantly to encompass a large variety of systems, made of distinctly dissimilar components and mixed at the nanometer scale. This rapidly expanding field is generating many exciting new advanced composites with promising properties. However, during the fabrication of nanocomposites, many problems could arise and remain as challenging tasks. One such problem is controlling of the nanofluid flow behavior around the microfiber perform as in case of Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) process because of the high resin viscosity and the low preform permeability. In this paper, a two-dimensional simulation model based on the Eulerian multiphase approach has been performed and solved to investigate and predict the flow characteristics of a carbon nanofluid around a staggered microfiber matrix. ‘The interactions between the microfiber walls and the interfacial nanofluid layers during the flow process have been also studied. Based on the predicted results an energy “imbalance” technique has been applied between the microfiber walls and the interfacial nanofluid layers allowing them the potential to flow more smoothly around the microfiber walls to prevent any potential sticking on the microfiber walls.
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/khalid_lafdi/104/