MHD Natural Convection Ferrofluid Flow in Semi-Annulus Enclosures

Abstract

This study examines the natural convection flow and the heat transfer of a water-based ferrofluid consisting Fe3O4 nanoparticles in a semi-annulus cavity with a circular outer and sinusoidal inner walls under the effect of a magnetic field produced by multiple nodal magnetic sources. The equations governing the ferrofluid flow are numerically solved using the dual reciprocity boundary element method. That is the equations are transformed into integral equations only on the boundary by using the fundamental solution of the Laplace equation and treating all other terms as nonhomegeneity through radial basis function approximation, which results in a discretized system of small size. The numerical computations are performed for several physical parameters namely, Hartmann, Rayleigh and magnetic numbers, solid volume fraction of nanoparticles, the number of undulation and the amplitude of sinusoidal wall. The obtained results show that increasing Rayleigh number, solid volume fraction and amplitude of sine waves enhance the average Nusselt number whereas it decreases with an increase in Hartmann number.