Numerical Investigation of Magnetic Field Effects on Mixed Convection Flow in a Nanofluid-filled Lid-driven Cavity

Abstract

In this work, the stencil adaptive method is applied to investigate the effects of a magnetic field on mixed convection of Al2O3-water nanofluid in a square lid-driven cavity. The incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are solved by an adaptive mesh method which has superior numerical advantages compared to the traditional method on the uniform fine grid. The main objective of this study is to investigate the influence of several pertinent parameters such as the Reynolds number, the Hartmann number and the solid particle volume fraction on the heat transfer performance of the nanofluid. Based on the obtained numerical results, the heat transfer rate increases with an increase of the Reynolds number but, it decreases with an increase of the Hartmann number. Also, the results indicate that heat transfer of the nanofluid could be either enhanced or mitigated with respect to that of the base fluid depending on the Reynolds number.