Abstract: In this study, Al₂O₃-water nanofluids flowing through a micro-scale T45-R type Tesla valve was investigated numerically. Both forward and reverse flows were investigated based on a verified numerical model. The effects of nanofluids flow rate, temperature, and nanoparticle volume fraction on fluid separation in the bifurcated section and the pressure drop characteristics were analyzed. It was found that most of the nanofluids flow into the straight channel of the bifurcated section when flowing forward, and into the arc channel when flowing reversely. The percentage of the main flow increases with flow rate, temperature, and nanoparticle volume fraction. Additionally, the jet flow from the arc channel leads to a larger pressure drop than forward flow. Finally, the diodicity was found most affected by flow rate, and a correlation used to predict the change in diodicity with the flow rate was proposed.

Key words: Nanofluids; Tesla valve; Pressure drop; Nanoparticles; Computational fluid dynamics (CFD)

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