Numerical modelling of natural convection in a square cavity: effect of nanofluid volume fraction and inclination

Abstract

In this paper, the phenomenon of natural convection in a square cavity filled with copper (Cu) -based nanofluid (Nf) has been studied. The influences of the volume fraction (ф) on the convective flow, as well as the effect of the inclination (γ) of the cavity on thermal performances were examined. The dimensionless governing equations formulated using stream function, vorticity, and temperatures were solved by finite difference methods, where the Successive Over-Relaxation (SOR) iteration and the upwind scheme were adopted. The developed code served as a verification of results where it showed a good agreement with previous works. The calculation code was then used to visualize the influence of the inclination on the thermal enhancement and showed that the transfer becomes more efficient with an inclination of π/6.