This numerical study aims to enhance the convective thermal and fluid flow characteristics in an inverted T-shaped porous enclosure saturated with a water-based special fluid. Moreover, a Darcy-extended Brinkman-Forchheimer-based mathematical model is numerically simulated with a penalty finite element approach to analyze the influence of aspect ratio and undulation effect on the developed mathematical model. Firstly, the various aspect ratios ( Ar = 0.25 , 0.50 , and 0.75 ) of the mathematical model are numerically simulated at the varying range of Rayleigh number (Ra), which reveals that the increasing aspect ratios reinforce the convective heat and fluid flow phenomena. Moreover, it confirms the most pertinent aspect ratios (Ar = 0.50) that get superior results in reinforcing the convective flow among other aspect ratios. Furthermore, the optimal aspect ratio (Ar = 0.50) is further fixed to explore the parametric influences, including Rayleigh number ( Ra = 10 3 − 10 6 ), porosity value ( ϵ = 0.1 − 0.9 ), Darcy number ( Da = 10 − 5 − 10 − 2 ), and various undulation parameters such wave number ( n a = 5 , 9 , 15 ) and amplitude of wavy surface ( a = 0 , 0.050 , 0.125 , 0.250 ). The results reveal that augmenting Ra, Da, and ϵ reinforces the convective thermal and fluid transport characteristics. Moreover, a combined effect of undulation factors ( n a , a ) is also reported, indicating that decreasing na and increasing a magnitude strengthen the natural convection process. It is analyzed that the optimal combination of undulation parameters ( n a = 5 , a = 0.25 ) results in a 16.15% in heat transfer enhancement. Additionally, maximum enhancements of 32.55%, 6.63%, and 41.47% in Num are reported while comparing between na = 5 and na = 15 for Ra, Da, and ϵ. Similarly, maximum enhancements of 17.87%, 16.10%, and 37.77% in Num are reported when comparing between a = 0.05 with a = 0.25 for Ra, Da, and ϵ. The research contributes valuable insights into improving thermal transport processes in real-world applications, especially in industrial solar power collectors, thermal exchangers, and heat storage industries that utilize the T-shaped configuration.
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