MHD natural convection flow in cavities filled with square solid blocks

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the influence of magnetic field on natural convection inside the enclosures partially filled with conducting square solid obstacles. Also, the effect of thermal conductivity ratio between the solid and fluid materials is investigated for different number of solid blocks.

Design/methodology/approach

The dimensionless governing equations are transformed into sets of algebraic equations using finite volume method and momentum equations are solved by the SIMPLE algorithm with the hybrid scheme. The validation of the numerical code was conducted by comparing the results of average Nusselt number with previously published works.

Findings

The results indicate that both the magnetic field and solid blocks can significantly affect the flow and temperature fields. It is shown that for a given Rayleigh number, variation of Nusselt number might be increasing or decreasing with change in solid-to-fluid thermal conductivity ratio depending on magnetic field strength and number of solid blocks.

Originality/value

No work has been reported previously on the effect of magnetic field on natural convection flow in a cavity partially filled with square solid blocks. The numerical analysis of conductivity ratio between the solid and fluid materials under the effect of magnetic field have been carried out for the first time.

Citation

Ashouri, M., Behshad Shafii, M. and Rajabi Kokande, H. (2014), "MHD natural convection flow in cavities filled with square solid blocks", International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, Vol. 24 No. 8, pp. 1813-1830. https://doi.org/10.1108/HFF-12-2012-0284