Effects of microstructure on natural convection flow of micropolar fluids in a vertical cylinder heated from below

Numerical study of natural convection flow in a vertical cylindrical enclos ure filled with micropolar fluids and heated from below has been investigat ed. A two-dimensional, steady and laminar flow model is simulated. The tran sport equations for vorticity, angular momentum and energy as well as the s tream function equation are solved with the aid of the finite-difference me thod. The results indicate that dependence of microrotation term and heat t ransfer on microstructure parameters is significant, The heat transfer rate of micropolar fluids is found to be smaller than that of the Newtonian flu id. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.