Abstract
This paper investigates free convection in a partially heated square cavity filled with alumina-water nanofluid. The investigation is carried out at the three-volume fraction of nanoparticles (0, 0.03, 0.05), two Prandtl numbers (2.66, 6), and constant Grashof number (105) with three shapes of insulating obstacles (Square, Circular, and Rectangular). The results show that the nanofluid volume fraction and Prandtl number significantly enhance the heat transfer. The user-defined function (UDF) is developed and computed to investigate the effect of nanoparticle diameter and its temperature-dependent viscosity on convection. The average Nusselt number (Nu) increased with the temperature-dependent viscosity model and by increasing the percentage concentration of the nanoparticles. For all obstacle shapes, the thermal performance improved with increase in the nano-particle diameter.
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