Numerical analysis of effect of magnetic field on combined surface tension and buoyancy driven convection in partially heated open enclosure

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to investigate the effects of magnetic field on the flow driven by the combined mechanism of buoyancy and thermocapillary flow in an open enclosure with localized heating from below and symmetrical cooling from the sides.

Design/methodology/approach

The governing equations are discretized by the control volume method with power-law scheme and solved numerically by SIMPLE algorithm for the pressure-velocity coupling together with under-relaxation technique.

Findings

In this work, it is observed that, the average Nusselt number, decreases with an increase of Hartmann number Ha, and increases with increase of Prandtl and Grashof number. At large Marangoni number Ma, a prominent secondary eddies are observed at the top of the enclosure due to the effect of surface tension.

Originality/value

The study combines many external forces on thermocapillary flow.

Citation

Nagarajan, N., Öztop, H.F., Begum, A.S. and Al-Salem, K. (2015), "Numerical analysis of effect of magnetic field on combined surface tension and buoyancy driven convection in partially heated open enclosure", International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, Vol. 25 No. 8, pp. 1793-1817. https://doi.org/10.1108/HFF-09-2014-0275