Magneto-hydrodynamic thermal convection of Cu–Al2O3/water hybrid nanofluid saturated with porous media subjected to half-sinusoidal nonuniform heating

Abstract

The present work aims to examine the thermal efficacy of half-sinusoidal nonuniform heating at different spatial frequencies for a porous natural convection system using Cu–Al2O3/water hybrid nanofluid and magnetic field. The system is presented utilizing a classical square enclosure heated nonuniformly at the bottom wall, and the sidewalls are allowed to exchange heat with the surroundings. The Brinkman–Forchheimer–Darcy model is adopted catering other additional terms for buoyant force and magnetic field. The governing equations are transformed into nondimensional forms and then solved numerically using a finite volume-based computing code. The importance and fundamental flow physics are explored in terms of the pertinent parameters such as the amplitude (I) and spatial frequency (f) of half-sinusoidal heating, Darcy–Rayleigh number (Ram), volume fraction of hybrid nanoparticles ( $$ \phi $$ ), and Hartmann number (Ha). The flow structure and heat transfer characteristics are analyzed and presented utilizing heatlines, streamlines and isotherms and average Nusselt number. The results show that the use of half-sinusoidal nonuniform heating along with hybrid nanofluid can be a viable method for enhancement and control of the overall thermal performance. The study indicates that half-sinusoidal heating could be a promising technique for better heat transfer even in the presence of flow dampening effects like porous media and magnetic fields.