On the field-induced transport of magnetic nanoparticles in incompressible flow: Modeling and numerics

Abstract

By methods from non-equilibrium thermodynamics, we derive a class of nonlinear pde-models to describe the motion of magnetizable nanoparticles suspended in incompressible carrier fluids under the influence of external magnetic fields. Our system of partial differential equations couples Navier–Stokes and magnetostatic equations to evolution equations for the magnetization field and the particle number density. In the second part of the paper, a fully discrete mixed finite-element scheme is introduced which is rigorously shown to be energy-stable. Finally, we present numerical simulations in the 2D-case which provide first information about the interaction of particle density, magnetization and magnetic field.