Case Studies in Thermal Engineering (Sep 2024)
Enhanced heat transfer in novel star-shaped enclosure with hybrid nanofluids: A neural network-assisted study
Abstract
The current research is a numerical investigation of the thermo-fluidic transport trend within a new star-shaped enclosure filled with Fe3O4−MWCNT (Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes) suspended hybrid nanoparticles in a base fluid (water), induced by a horizontal magnetizing field. A rectangular rod inside the cavity positioned at center is kept at a high temperature, as the low temperature is chosen for outer corrugated boundary. Formulation yelled in mathematical principles, along with the boundary conditions and some physical assumptions, are formulated as dimensionless PDEs. The finite element method (FEM) assisted by “COMSOL” software, employed for numerical simulations, and the PARDISO solver is used for solving nonlinear system of equations. Also, an artificial neural network (ANN) model is assembled to analyze the effect of these parameters on thermal and flow transport properties of Hybrid nanofluid. The training of this ANN model is done by a dataset generated from numerical simulations, suggesting predictions regarding heat transport under varying parameters. This approach does not only reduce the effort, but also reduces computing time when exploring the thermal behaviors across various datasets. The visualization of velocity and temperature fields through streamlines and isotherms, along with the evaluation of the Nusselt number, illustrate the enhanced heat transfer facilitated by the incorporation of Fe3O4−MWCNT nanoparticles. The results show that increased magnetic field strength reduces fluid velocity due to the generated Lorentz force, which counteracts convective flow. Percentage analysis indicates that hybrid nanofluids (Fe3O4−MWCNT) significantly improve thermal distribution compared to conventional fluids. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of ANN models in forecasting the influence of diverse factors on the flow and heat transport characteristics of hybrid nanofluids. These insights are essential to the design and optimization of heat transfer systems.