The Effect of Blockage Ratio on Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer around a Confined Square Cylinder under the Effect Thermal Buoyancy

Abstract

2D simulation is carried out to determine exactly the effect of blockage ratio on the flow and mixed convection heat transfer characteristics of Newtonian fluid across a square cylinder confined in horizontal channel, the numerical study is investigated in the range of these conditions:Re= 10 to 30,Ri= 0 to 1 and blockage ratioβ= 1/10 to 1/2. The flow structure and temperature field are visualized in terms of streamlines and isotherm contours. The total drag coefficient and average Nusselt number are also reported to show the combined effects of thermal buoyancy, Reynolds number and blockage ratio on the hydrodynamic flow forces and heat transfer rate. The obtained results showed that the effect of thermal buoyancy on fluid flow and heat transfer becomes more pronounced by decreasing the blockage ratio.