Open Access

ARTICLE

MHD Natural Convection in a Nanofluid-filled Enclosure with Non-uniform Heating on Both Side Walls

Imen Mejri^1,2, Ahmed Mahmoudi¹, Mohamed Ammar Abbassi¹, Ahmed Omri¹

1 UR: Unité de Recherche Matériaux, Energie et Energies Renouvelables (MEER), Faculté des Sciences de Gafsa, B.P.19, Zarroug, Gafsa, 2112, Tunisie.
2 Corresponding Author. Email: im.mejri85@yahoo.fr; Tel: 00216 25345419.

Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing 2014, 10(1), 83-114. https://doi.org/10.3970/fdmp.2014.010.083

Abstract

This study examines natural convection in a square enclosure filled with a water-Al₂O₃ nanofluid and subjected to a magnetic field. The side walls of the cavity have spatially varying sinusoidal temperature distributions. The horizontal walls are adiabatic. A Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is applied to solve the governing equations for fluid velocity and temperature. The following parameters and related ranges are considered: Rayleigh number of the base fluid, from Ra=10³ to 10⁶, Hartmann number from Ha=0 to 90, phase deviation (γ =0, π/4, π/2, 3π/4 and π) and solid volume fraction of the nanoparticles between ø = 0 and 6%. The results show that the heat transfer rate increases with an increase in the Rayleigh number but it decreases with an increase in the Hartmann number. For γ =π/2 and Ra=10⁵ the magnetic field strengthens the effect produced by the presence of nanoparticles. For Ha=0, the most evident influence of nanoparticles is achieved at γ = 0 and π/4 for Ra=10⁴ and 10⁵ respectively.

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Keywords

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