Magnetic field effect on mixed convection flow inside an oval-shaped annulus enclosure filled by a non-Newtonian nanofluid

Abstract

The phenomenon of flow around a static or rotating circular cylinder has significant applications in various engineering fields, such as building, bridge, and structure engineering. It can be used to control flow-induced vibration, blowing or suction, moving surfaces, acoustic thriller, and synthetic jet. Additionally, there is a need to enhance heat transfer rates in many life and industrial applications, including cavity shape enhancement, heating or cooling spread inside a cavity, heat dissipation in electronic devices, thermal mixing in storage units, solar collectors, desalination, and journal bearing lubrication. This study explores the effect of a horizontal magnetic field and a rotating inner circular cylinder on mixed convection within a two-dimensional oval-shaped enclosure filled with a non-Newtonian nanofluid. The Galerkin Finite Element Method (GFEM) is utilized for analysis, with the enclosure undergoing differential heating and cooling on the inner cylinder wall and the enclosure wall, respectively. The nanofluid consists of water infused with copper nanoparticles. The study explores various simulation parameters, including the Richardson number (Ri), Hartmann number (Ha), the inclination angle of the enclosure (β), power-law index (n), circle center eccentricity (e), and nanoparticles volume fraction (φ). It has been observed that as the Ha and n index increase for different Ri values, a wavy trend in local Nusselt number (Nu) profiles along the heat source surface is observed. Additionally, the heat transfer rate decreases with increasing Ri for various combinations of Ha and n index. Under specific conditions, such as Ri = 0.001, Ha = 60, e = 0, φ = 0.09, and β = 90, the results show that, compared to a Newtonian fluid (n = 1), the heat transfer rate exhibits percentage gains of approximately 6.31% for a pseudo-plastic fluid (n = 0.6) and 8.47% for a Dilatant fluid (n = 1.4). The convective heat transfer was significantly enhanced when the eccentricity of the cylinder was positioned in the lower or upper regions of the oval-shaped enclosure, particularly at e = - 0.3. The highest heat transfer rates were observed at β = 60 and 240.