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Natural convection in differentially heated enclosures has been extensively investigated due to its importance in many industrial applications and has been used as a benchmark solution for testing numerical schemes. However, most of the published works considered uniform heating and cooling of the vertical boundaries. This paper aims to examine non-uniform heating and cooling of the mentioned boundaries. The mentioned case is very common in many electronic cooling devices, thermal storage systems, energy managements in buildings, material processing, etc.

Four cases are considered, the left-hand wall’s temperature linearly decreases along the wall, while the right-hand wall’s temperature is kept at a constant, cold temperature. In the second case, the left-hand wall’s temperature linearly increases along the wall, while the right-hand wall’s temperature is kept a constant, cold temperature. The third case, the left-hand wall’s temperature linearly decreases along the wall, while the right-hand wall’s temperature linearly increases along the wall. In the fourth case, the left-hand and the right-hand walls’ temperatures decrease along the wall, symmetry condition. Hence, four scenarios of natural convection in enclosures were covered.

It has been found that the average Nusselt number of the mentioned cases is less than the average Nusselt number of the uniformly heated and cooled enclosure, which reflects the physics of the problem. The work quantifies the deficiency in the rate of the heat transfer. Interestingly one of the mentioned cases showed two counter-rotating horizontal circulations. Such a flow structure can be considered for passively, highly controlled mechanism for species mixing processes application.

Previous works assumed that the vertical boundary is subjected to a constant temperature or to a sinusoidal varying temperature. The subject of the work is to examine the effect of non-uniformly heating and/or cooling vertical boundaries on the rate of heat transfer and flow structure for natural convection in a square enclosure. The temperature either linearly increases or decreases along the vertical coordinate at the boundary. Four scenarios are explored.

The purpose of this paper is to numerically investigate two dimensional steady state convective heat transfer in a differentially heated square cavity with constant temperatures and an inner rotating cylinder. The gap between the cylinder and the enclosure walls is filled with power law non-Newtonian fluid.

Finite volume-based CFD software, Fluent (Ansys 15.0) is used to solve the governing equations. Attribution of the various flow parameters of fluid flow and heat transfer are investigated including Rayleigh number, Prandtl number, power law index, the cylinder radius and the angular rotational speed.

Outcomes are reported in terms of isotherms, streamlines and average Nusselt number (Nu) of the heated wall for various considered here.

A detailed investigates is needed in the context of 3D flow. This will be a part of the future work.

The effect of a rotating cylinder on heat transfer and fluid flow in a differentially heated rectangular enclosure filled with power law non-Newtonian fluid has practical importance in the process industry.

The results of this study may be of some interest to the researchers of the field of chemical or process engineers.

The effect of a horizontal partial porous partition on heat transfer and flow structure in a differentially heated square cavity is investigated. While the fluid flow is assumed to be governed by Navier—Stokes equations, fluid saturated porous media is assumed to be governed by Darcy’s equations. Standard Galerkin method of finite element formulation is applied for discretization of the system of equations. The non‐linearities in the discretized equations are treated with Newton‐Raphson scheme. The code developed is tested for validation for modified Rayleigh number Ra up to 400. The code is then applied to a differentially heated square cavity with a horizontal partial porous partition. While the thickness of the porous partition is found to have appreciable effect on heat transfer and flow field, width of the porous partition is found to have insignificant bearing on heat transfer except when the partition is very small and compatible to the thickness of the boundary layer developed. During the experimentation Darcy number and Rayleigh number are assumed to be constant at 10^–4 and 10⁶ respectively.

Modelling accurately the transient behaviour of natural convection flow in enclosures been a challenging task because of a variety of numerical errors which have limited achieving the higher order temporal accuracy. A fourth-order accurate finite difference method in both space and time is proposed to overcome these numerical errors and accurately model the transient behaviour of natural convection flow in enclosures using vorticity–streamfunction formulation.

Fourth-order wide stencil formula with appropriate one-sided difference extrapolation technique near the boundary is used for spatial discretisation, and classical fourth-order Runge–Kutta scheme is applied for transient term discretisation. The proposed method is applied on two transient case studies, i.e. convection–diffusion of a Gaussian Pulse and Taylor Vortex flow having analytical solution.

Error magnitude comparison and rate of convergence analysis of the proposed method with these analytical solutions establish fourth-order accuracy and prove the ability of the proposed method to truly capture the transient behaviour of incompressible flow. Also, to test the transient natural convection flow behaviour, the algorithm is tested on differentially heated square cavity at high Rayleigh number in the range of 10³-10⁸, followed by studying the transient periodic behaviour in a differentially heated vertical cavity of aspect ratio 8:1. An excellent comparison is obtained with standard benchmark results.

The developed method is applied on 2D enclosures; however, the present methodology can be extended to 3D enclosures using velocity–vorticity formulations which shall be explored in future.

The proposed methodology to achieve fourth-order accurate transient simulation of natural convection flows is novel, to the best of the authors’ knowledge. Stable fourth-order vorticity boundary conditions are derived for boundary and external boundary regions. The selected case studies for comparison demonstrate not only the fourth-order accuracy but also the considerable reduction in error magnitude by increasing the temporal accuracy. Also, this study provides novel benchmark results at five different locations within the differentially heated vertical cavity of aspect ratio 8:1 for future comparison studies.

The purpose of this paper is to address various works on mixed convection and proposes 10 unified models (Models 1–10) based on various thermal and kinematic conditions of the boundary walls, thermal conditions and/ or kinematics of objects embedded in the cavities and kinematics of external flow field through the ventilation ports. Experimental works on mixed convection have also been addressed.

This review is based on 10 unified models on mixed convection within cavities. Models 1–5 involve mixed convection based on the movement of single or double walls subjected to various temperature boundary conditions. Model 6 elucidates mixed convection due to the movement of single or double walls of cavities containing discrete heaters at the stationary wall(s). Model 7A focuses mixed convection based on the movement of wall(s) for cavities containing stationary solid obstacles (hot or cold or adiabatic) whereas Model 7B elucidates mixed convection based on the rotation of solid cylinders (hot or conductive or adiabatic) within the cavities enclosed by stationary or moving wall(s). Model 8 is based on mixed convection due to the flow of air through ventilation ports of cavities (with or without adiabatic baffles) subjected to hot and adiabatic walls. Models 9 and 10 elucidate mixed convection due to flow of air through ventilation ports of cavities involving discrete heaters and/or solid obstacles (conductive or hot) at various locations within cavities.

Mixed convection plays an important role for various processes based on convection pattern and heat transfer rate. An important dimensionless number, Richardson number (Ri) identifies various convection regimes (forced, mixed and natural convection). Generalized models also depict the role of “aiding” and “opposing” flow and combination of both on mixed convection processes. Aiding flow (interaction of buoyancy and inertial forces in the same direction) may result in the augmentation of the heat transfer rate whereas opposing flow (interaction of buoyancy and inertial forces in the opposite directions) may result in decrease of the heat transfer rate. Works involving fluid media, porous media and nanofluids (with magnetohydrodynamics) have been highlighted. Various numerical and experimental works on mixed convection have been elucidated. Flow and thermal maps associated with the heat transfer rate for a few representative cases of unified models [Models 1–10] have been elucidated involving specific dimensionless numbers.

This review paper will provide guidelines for optimal design/operation involving mixed convection processing applications.

This paper aims to numerically investigate the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) convection heat transfer of nanofluid inside a differentially heated enclosure with various fin morphologies.

The fluid flow within the cavity was governed by N-S equations while it within porous medium was solved by the non-Darcy model, called the Darcy–Forchheimer model based on representative element-averaging method. Empirical correlations from experimental data are used to evaluate the effective thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity. Relevant governing parameters, including thermal Rayleigh number (10⁵-10⁷), Hartmann number (0-50), Darcy number (10⁻⁶-10⁻¹), thermal conductivity ratio of porous matrix (1-10³), nanoparticles volume fraction (0-0.04) and topology designs of porous fins, are sensitively varied to identify their effects and roles on the fluid flow and heat transfer. Particularly, heatlines are used to investigate the mechanism of heat transport.

Numerical results demonstrate that the predictions of average Nusselt number are augmented by using more porous fins with high permeability, and this effect becomes opposite in tiny Darcy numbers. Particularly, for high Darcy and Rayleigh numbers, the shortest fins could achieve the best performance of heat transfer. In addition, the prediction of average Nusselt number reduces with an increase in Hartmann numbers. An optimal nanoparticles concentration also exists to maximize heat transfer enhancement. Finally, numerical correlations for the average Nusselt number were proposed as functions of these governing parameters.

Present work could benefit the thermal design of electronic cooling and thermal carriers in nanofluid engineering.

Present work could benefit the thermal design of electronic cooling and thermal carriers in nanofluid engineering. In addition, optimum thermal removals could enhance the lifetime of electronics, therefore reducing the cost of energy and materials.

To the best knowledge of authors, there are not any studies considering the synergetic effects of porous fins on MHD convection of nanofluids. Present work could benefit the thermal design of electronic cooling and thermal carriers in nanofluid engineering.

This paper aims to numerically analyse natural convection of yield stress fluids in rectangular cross-sectional cylindrical annular enclosures. The laminar steady-state simulations have been conducted for a range of different values of normalised internal radius (r_i/L 1/8 to 16, where L is the difference between outer and inner radii); aspect ratio (AR = H/L from 1/8 to 8 where H is the enclosure height); and nominal Rayleigh number (Ra from 10³ to 10⁶) for a single representative value of Prandtl number (Pr is 500).

The Bingham model has been used to mimic the yield stress fluid motion, and numerical simulations have been conducted for both constant wall temperature (CWT) and constant wall heat flux (CWHF) boundary conditions for the vertical side walls. The conservation equations of mass, momentum and energy have been solved in a coupled manner using the finite volume method where a second-order central differencing scheme is used for the diffusive terms and a second-order up-wind scheme is used for the convective terms. The well-known semi-implicit method for pressure-linked equations algorithm is used for the coupling of the pressure and velocity.

It is found that the mean Nusselt number based on the inner periphery Nu¯_i increases (decreases) with an increase in Ra (Bn) due to augmented buoyancy (viscous) forces irrespective of the boundary condition. The ratio of convective to diffusive thermal transport increases with increasing r_i/L for both Newtonian (i.e. Bn = 0) and Bingham fluids regardless of the boundary condition. Moreover, the mean Nusselt number Nu¯_i normalised by the corresponding Nusselt number due to pure conductive transport (i.e. Nu¯_i/(Nu¯_i)_cond) shows a non-monotonic trend with increasing AR in the CWT configuration for a given set of values of Ra, Pr, L_i for both Newtonian (i.e. Bn = 0) and Bingham fluids, whereas Nu¯_i/(Nu¯_i)_cond increases monotonically with increasing AR in the CWHF configuration. The influences of convective thermal transport strengthen while thermal diffusive transport weakens with increasing AR, and these competing effects are responsible for the non-monotonic Nu¯_i/(Nu¯_i)_cond variation with AR in the CWT configuration.

Detailed scaling analysis is utilised to explain the observed influences of Ra, BN, r_i/L and AR, which along with the simulation data has been used to propose correlations for Nu¯_i.

This paper aims to investigate numerically buoyancy-induced convection from a pair of differentially heated horizontal circular cylinders set side by side in a nanofluid-filled adiabatic square enclosure, inclined with respect to gravity so that the heated cylinder is located below the cooled one, using a two-phase model based on the double-diffusive approach assuming that the Brownian diffusion and thermophoresis are the only slip mechanisms by which the solid phase can develop a significant relative velocity with respect to the liquid phase.

The system of the governing equations of continuity, momentum and energy for the nanofluid, and continuity for the nanoparticles, is solved by a computational code based on the SIMPLE-C algorithm. Numerical simulations are performed for Al₂O₃ + H₂O nanofluids using the average volume fraction of the suspended solid phase, the tilting angle of the enclosure, the nanoparticle size, the average nanofluid temperature and the inter-cylinder spacing, as independent variables.

The main results obtained may be summarized as follows: at high temperatures, the nanofluid heat transfer performance relative to that of the pure base liquid increases with increasing the average volume fraction of the suspended solid phase, whereas at low temperatures it has a peak at an optimal particle loading; the relative heat transfer performance of the nanofluid has a peak at an optimal tilting angle of the enclosure; the relative heat transfer performance of the nanofluid increases notably as the average temperature is increased, and just moderately as inter-cylinder spacing is increased and the nanoparticle size is decreased.

The two-phase computational code used in the present study incorporates three empirical correlations for the evaluation of the effective thermal conductivity, the effective dynamic viscosity and the coefficient of thermophoretic diffusion, all based on a high number of literature experimental data.

Numerical simulations have been used to analyse steady-state natural convection of non-Newtonian power-law fluids in a square cross-sectioned cylindrical annular cavity for differentially heated vertical walls for a range of different values of nominal Rayleigh number, nominal Prandtl number and power-law exponent (i.e. 103 < Ra < 106, 102 < Pr < 104 and 0.6 < n < 1.8). The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Analysis is carried out using finite-volume based numerical simulations.

Under the assumption of axisymmetry, it has been shown that the mean Nusselt number on the inner periphery Nu _i increases with decreasing (increasing) power-law exponent (nominal Rayleigh number) due to strengthening of thermal advection. However, Nu _i is observed to be essentially independent of nominal Prandtl number. It has been demonstrated that Nu _i decreases with increasing internal cylinder radius normalised by its height r _i /L before asymptotically approaching the mean Nusselt number for a two-dimensional square enclosure in the limit r _i /L→infinity. By contrast, the mean Nusselt number normalised by the corresponding Nusselt number for pure conductive transport (i.e. Nu _i /Nu _cond ) increases with increasing r _i /L.

A correlation for Nu _i has been proposed based on scaling arguments, which satisfactorily captures the mean Nusselt number obtained from the steady-state axisymmetric simulations.

Vorticity formulations for the incompressible Navier‐Stokes equations have certain advantages over primitive‐variable formulations including the fact that the number of equations to be solved is reduced through the elimination of the pressure variable, identical satisfaction of the incompressibility constraint and the continuity equation, and an implicitly higher‐order approximation of the velocity components. For the most part, vorticity methods have been used to solve exterior isothermal problems. In this research, a vorticity formulation is used to study the natural convection flows in differentially‐heated enclosures. The numerical algorithm is divided into three steps: two kinematic steps and one kinetic step. The kinematics are governed by the generalized Helmholtz decomposition (GHD) which is solved using a boundary element method (BEM) whereas the kinetics are governed by the vorticity equation which is solved using a finite element method (FEM). In the first kinematic step, vortex sheet strengths are determined from a novel Galerkin implementation of the GHD. These vortex sheet strengths are used to determine Neumann boundary conditions for the vorticity equation. (The thermal boundary conditions are already known.) In the second kinematic step, the interior velocity field is determined using the regular (non‐Galerkin) form of the GHD. This step, in a sense, linearizes the convective acceleration terms in both the vorticity and energy equations. In the third kinetic step, the coupled vorticity and energy equations are solved using a Galerkin FEM to determine the updated values of the vorticity and thermal fields. Two benchmark problems are considered to show the robustness and versatility of this formulation including natural convection in an 8×1 differentially‐heated enclosure at a near critical Rayleigh number.