Editorial

Citation

He, H.-Y.L.a.J.-H. (2014), "Editorial", International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, Vol. 24 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/HFF-10-2013-0306

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, Volume 24, Issue 6

Analytical and numerical methods for nanoscale flows

Understanding the behavior of a flow at the nanoscale has been caught much attention recently, because nanoscale flow always makes the impossible possible. Majumder et al. (2005) found that liquid flow through a membrane composed of an array of aligned carbon nanotubes is four to five orders of magnitude faster than would be predicted from conventional fluid-flow theory. Similarly nanoscale jet in bubble electrospinning behaves extremely well for mass production of nanomaterial production. In this special issue, we select some papers on nanoscale-charged jet for nanofibers fabrication, which embodies a series of special properties in thermal and hydrodynamic performance.

To model such flows, fractional calculus plays an important role. As stated by ‘t Hooft (1999) discrete space-time may be the most radical and logical viewpoint of reality. The basic assumption of continuous mechanics is broken in most nanoscale flows, as a result, governing equations should be established in a fractal space using fractional differential equations. In this special an explanation of the fractional derivative is given, and several analytical methods such as the variational iteration method and the homotopy perturbation method are introduced.

Another approach to nanoscale flow is numerical simulation. In this issue, besides of the well-known finite element method, some new methods, such as refined gray-encoded evolution algorithm and the compressible vortex method are adopted to model nanoparticles diffusion and coagulation.

This special issue covers the basic properties of nanoscale flows, and various analytical and numerical methods for nanoscale flows and environmental flows. This special issue is a good reference not only for audience of the journal, but also for various communities in mathematics, nanotechnology and environmental science.

Hong-Yan Liu and Ji-Huan He

Acknowledgements

The work is supported by Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD), National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 61303236 and No. 11372205 and Project for Six Kinds of Top Talents in Jiangsu Province under Grant No. ZBZZ-035, Science & Technology Pillar Program of Jiangsu Province under Grant No. BE2013072.

References

Majumder, M., Chopra, N., Andrews, R. and Hinds, B.J. (2005), “Nanoscale hydrodynamics: enhanced flow in carbon nanotubes”, Nature, Vol. 438 No. 7064, p. 44

‘t Hooft, G. (1999), “A confrontation with infinity”, Nobel Lecture, Stockholm University, Aula Magna, December 8

Further reading

He, J.H., Kong, H.Y., Yang, R.R., Dou, H., Faraz, N., Wang, L. and Feng, C. (2012), “Review on fiber morphology obtained by the bubble electrospinning and blown bubble spinning”, Thermal Science, Vol. 16 No. 5, pp. 1263-1279