Anisotropic thermal conductivity of magnetic fluids

Considering the forces acting on the particles and the motion of the particles, this study uses a numerical simulation to investigate the three-dimensional microstructure of the magnetic fluids in the presence of an external magnetic field. A method is proposed for predicting the anisotropic thermal conductivity of magnetic fluids. By introducing an anisotropic structure parameter which characterizes the nonuniform distribution of particles suspended in the magnetic fluids, the traditional Maxwell formula is modified and extended to calculate anisotropic thermal conductivity of the magnetic fluids. The results show that in the presence of an external magnetic field the magnetic nanoparticles form chainlike clusters along the direction of the external magnetic field, which leads to the fact that the thermal conductivity of the magnetic fluid along the chain direction is bigger than that along other directions. The thermal conductivity of the magnetic fluids presents an anisotropic feature. With the increase of the magnetic field strength the chainlike clusters in the magnetic fluid appear to be more obvious, so that the anisotropic feature of heat conduction in the fluids becomes more evident.