Magnetoconvective Transport in a Lid-Driven Square Enclosure with Two Rotating Circular Cylinders

Abstract

Numerical analysis of hydromagnetic mixed convective transport in a differentially heated vertical lid-driven square enclosure is performed in this article. Two heat-conducting solid circular cylinders of identical shape are placed within the enclosure. The cylinders may be either stationary or rotating about their centroidal axes. Two different combinations of cylinder rotations are considered: one when the top cylinder rotates and the bottom one is kept stationary, and the other when the bottom cylinder rotates and the top one is kept stationary. Simulations are performed for a range of controlling parameters such as the Richardson number (1 to 10), Hartmann number (0 to 50), and dimensionless rotational speed (0 to 5), keeping the Reynolds number based on the lid velocity fixed as 100. Furthermore, three different Prandtl numbers, 0.02, 0.71, and 7, are considered. The flow and thermal fields are analyzed through streamline and isotherm plots for various Hartmann and Richardson numbers and rotational speeds. Additionally, the Nusselt number and the bulk fluid temperature are also computed to understand the effects of Hartmann and Richardson numbers and rotational speeds on them. It is observed that the heat transfer greatly depends on the rotational speed of the cylinder.