Computers & Fluids 100 (2014) 108–122

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Computers & Fluids

j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w . e l s e v i e r . c o m / l o c a t e / c o m p fl u i d

Effects of cavity inclination on mixed convection heat transfer

in lid-driven cavity flows
T.S. Cheng ⇑, W.-H. Liu
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chung Hua University, 707, Sec. 2, Wufu Road, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan, ROC

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Numerical simulations are performed to investigate systematically the effects of inclination angle
Received 1 October 2013 (/ = 0–90°), Richardson number (Ri = 0.01, 1 and 100), and aspect ratio (A = 0.2, 1 and 5) on the flow
Received in revised form 1 April 2014 structures and heat transfer in a air-filled (Pr = 0.71), two-dimensional (2-D) cavity where the flow is
Accepted 3 May 2014
induced by a shear force resulting from the motion of the cooled upper lid combined with buoyancy force
Available online 14 May 2014
due to bottom heating. The governing equations for the 2-D velocity and temperature fields are discret-
ized spatially into a fourth-order accurate compact form. Numerical results indicate that among the three
Keywords:
aspect ratios investigated the increase of inclination angle does not affect the flow structures and heat
Mixed convection
Lid-driven cavity
transfer when the flow is in a forced convection dominated regime (Ri = 0.01). However, when the flow
Inclination angle is in a pure natural convection dominated regime (Ri = 100, Ra = 7.1  105), the increase of inclination
Compact scheme angle enhances the heat transfer rate for A = 1 and 5 cavities and the maximum heat transfer rate occurs
at / = 75°. In addition, the flow changes from a stable, laminar regime to an unstable, chaos regime under
certain inclination angles. At these conditions, the total kinetic energy appears to be in periodic or non-
periodic oscillation.
Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The fundamental problem of combined forced and natural con-
vection heat transfer in a cavity has received considerable atten-
tion from researchers. This problem is often encountered in
many engineering and industrial applications, such as solar collec-
tors, cooling of electronic devices, heat exchangers, materials pro-
cessing, crystal growth, float glass production, metal coating and
casting, and among others. In order to understand the complex
physical phenomena associated with fluid flow and heat transfer,
numerous studies of mixed convection driven by a combination
of buoyancy and shear forces in rectangular or square cavities have
been reported extensively in the literature. The modeling and sim-
ulation of such a problem is generally grouped into the horizontal
[1–15] or vertical [16–20] side wall sliding lid-driven cavity prob-
lems except that the horizontal or vertical walls are differentially
heated. The studies mentioned above were made under a condition
that the gravitational field is aligned with geo-potential lines. In
some engineering applications, however, the surface of the devices
is rarely aligned with geo-potential lines. Moreover, depending on
the direction, the inclined lid-driven cavity may be aiding or
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +886 3 5186489; fax: +886 3 5186521.
E-mail address: tscheng@chu.edu.tw (T.S. Cheng).
opposing the buoyancy. As a result, fluid flow and heat transfer
in an inclined cavity are different from that in a horizontal config-
uration. Therefore, the effect of inclination angle on characteristics
of heat transfer in a cavity is worth of study.
It has been shown by many researchers that the cavity inclina-
tion affects the natural convection heat transfer. Polat and Bilgen
[21] numerically studied laminar natural convection in inclined
open shallow cavities. They found that the inclination angle of
the heated plate affects the volumetric flow rate and heat transfer.
Mahmud and Islam [22] investigated the laminar free convection
and entropy generation inside an inclined wavy enclosure. They
reported that average heat transfer shows a well-shaped variation
with the angle of inclination of the cavity. Bouali et al. [23] found
that the increase of the inclination angle reduces considerably
the total heat transfer in the cavity with a centered inner body.
Ahlers et al. [24] performed experimental investigation of the
influence of inclination angle on the turbulent Rayleigh–Bénard
convection. They found a very small reduction of the Nusselt num-
ber with increasing the tilt angle, by about 4% per radian at small
angle. Oztop [25] found that inclination angle is the dominant
parameter on heat transfer and fluid flow in partially cooled and
inclined porous rectangular enclosures. Jeng et al. [26] experimen-
tally and numerically investigated the transient natural convection
due to mass transfer in inclined enclosures and showed that the

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compfluid.2014.05.004
0045-7930/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 T.S. Cheng, W.-H. Liu / Computers & Fluids 100 (2014) 108–122 109

Nomenclature

A aspect ratio, A = H/W X, Y dimensionless coordinates

g gravitational acceleration
Gr Grashof number, Gr = gbW3(Th  Tc)/m2 Greek symbols
H height of the cavity a thermal diffusivity
n normal direction b volumetric coefficient of thermal expansion
Nu Nusselt number / inclination angle
Pr Prandtl number, m/a m fluid kinematic viscosity
Ra Rayleigh number, GrPr h dimensionless temperature, (T  Tc)/(Th  Tc)
Re Reynolds number, U0W/m s dimensionless time
Ri Richardson number, Gr/Re2 x dimensional vorticity
t dimensional time x dimensionless vorticity, xW/U0
T dimensional temperature w dimensional streamfunction
U0 top wall driven velocity w dimensionless streamfunction, w/U0W
u,t velocity components in the x- and y-directions
U, V dimensionless velocity components Subscripts
W width of the cavity c cold temperature
x, y horizontal and vertical coordinates h hot temperature

0.8
streamlines and fluid concentration varied with the inclination
angles. Ghasemi and Aminossadati [27] numerically studied the Re=316 , Ri=1
natural convection heat transfer in an inclined enclosure filled with 64x64
a water–CuO nano-fluid and found that the inclination angle has a 128x128
significant impact on the flow and temperature fields as well as the 0.4 256x256
heat transfer performance at high Rayleigh numbers. In addition,
the heat transfer rate is maximized at a specific inclination angle
depending on Rayleigh number and solid volume fraction. Teamah
et al. [28] numerically studied the double-diffusive natural convec-
V

0
tive flow in an inclined rectangular enclosure in the presence of
magnetic field and heat source. They found that the inclination
angle affects the buoyancy forces in the enclosure and the
maximum and minimum average Nusselt and Sherwood numbers
are at inclination angle of 150° and 75°, respectively. Huang and -0.4
Zhou [29] performed numerical investigation on the turbulent
Rayleigh–Bénard convection over the Rayleigh number range
108 6 Ra 6 1010 and the Prandtl number range 0.7 6 Pr 6 10.
They found that strong counter-gradient local heat flux with -0.8
magnitude much larger than the global Nusselt number exists in
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
the system.
x
For the study of mixed convection flows, Sharif [30] performed
a numerical study on laminar mixed convection in a shallow 8
inclined lid-driven cavity with an aspect ratio (A = L/H) of 10
using the FLUENT commercial code. The inclination angle ranges
from 0° to 30°. The author found that the average Nusselt number
increases mildly with increasing cavity inclination for dominating
6
forced convection case (Ri = 0.1), while it is much steeper in dom-
inating natural convection case (Ri = 10). Alinia et al. [31] made a
numerical study on mixed convection in an inclined cavity. They
Local Nu

Re=316 , Ri=1
64x64
128x128
2 256x256

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
x

Fig. 2. Comparison of the calculated vertical velocity at the mid-height of the cavity
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of computational model. and the average Nusselt number along the heated wall for three different grids.
110 T.S. Cheng, W.-H. Liu / Computers & Fluids 100 (2014) 108–122
found that the effect of inclination angle is more pronounced at
high Richardson numbers due to domination of natural convec-
tion. Analysis of mixed convection in an inclined lid-driven cavity
with a wavy wall was made by Mekroussi et al. [32]. They
reported that the average Nusselt number at the heated surface
increases with an increase of the number of undulations as well
as the angle of inclination. Sivasankaran et al. [33] studied the
mixed convection in an inclined lid-driven cavity with different
sizes and locations of the heater. They found that the high heat
transfer occurs at the inclination angle of 30° in the buoyancy
convection dominated regime when the heater is located at the
middle of the cavity.
Literature review indicates that only a few of study has been
devoted to the study of mixed convection in an inclined lid-driven
cavity. In addition, most of the past studies were focused on
the square cavity. Therefore, the objective of the present study is
to investigate systematically the effects of inclination angle
(/ = 0–90°), Richardson number (Ri = 0.01, 1, 100), and aspect ratio
(A = 0.2, 1, 5) on the flow structures and heat transfer in a lid-dri-
ven cavity.
(a)
0°
15°
30°
45°
60°
75°
90°
Fig. 3. Variation of (a) streamlines and (b) isotherms with inclination angle for A = 0.2 and Ri = 0.01. Streamlines: W = 0.17–1.0  106, DW = 0.1214. Isotherms: h = 0–1,
Dh = 0.0625.
2. Model description and governing equations
The model configuration and boundary conditions are shown in
Fig. 1 which is a square cavity with that the top wall is moving
rightwards. The top and bottom walls are maintained isothermally
at temperatures Tc and Th, respectively, with Th > Tc. The vertical
side walls are thermally insulated. This configuration creates a
gravitationally-unstable temperature gradient and results in
natural convection even when the top wall is stationary. This case
is similar to that studied by Moallemi and Jang [2] and Mohamad
and Viskanta [3,4]. The aspect ratio of the cavity is defined as
A = H/W. Three aspect ratios (A = 0.2, 1, and 5) are considered in
the present study. The inclination angle ranges from 0° to 90° with
an interval of 15°.
The working fluid is assumed to be incompressible and its prop-
erties are constant except in the body force term where the density
varies with temperature. With the Boussinesq approximation, the
2-D governing equations, i.e., the momentum, energy, and mass
conservation equations are transformed into streamfunction–
vorticity (w–x) and temperature non-dimensional forms:
(b)
 T.S. Cheng, W.-H. Liu / Computers & Fluids 100 (2014) 108–122 111

@2W @2W (Pr = m/a), and Ra is the Rayleigh number (Ra = Gr  Pr). It is noted
2
þ ¼ X ð1Þ that in the computation the original elliptic streamfunction equa-
@X @Y 2
tion is modified to become parabolic form as Eqs. (2) and (3) by
  !
@X @X @X 1 @2X @2X inserting a false transient term to Eq. (1). If a steady state exists,
þ U þV ¼ þ the transient term in the modified parabolic form of Eq. (1) will
@s @X @Y Re @X 2 @Y 2
  approach to zero as is the original elliptic streamfunction equation.
@h @h Each equation can be advanced through time by a direct method
þ Ri cos /  sin / ð2Þ
@X @Y and the complete solution procedure may be regarded as a single
iterative scheme. The dimensionless variables in the above equa-
  !
@h @h @h 1 @2h @2h tions are defined as
þ U þV ¼ þ ð3Þ
@s @X @Y PrRe @X 2 @Y 2 X ¼ Wx ; Y ¼ Wy ; U ¼ Uu0 ; V ¼ Ut0 ; s ¼ tUW0 ;
ð5Þ
@W @W h ¼ ðTðTT cÞ
T c Þ
; X ¼ xUW0 ; w
W ¼ WU 0
h
U¼ ; V ¼ ð4Þ
@Y @X with u and t being the dimensional velocity components along the x
Here, the non-dimensional variables are: w the streamfunction, x and y axes, x is the dimensional vorticity, w is the dimensional
the vorticity, h the temperature, U the X-component velocity, V streamfunction, and subscripts h and c indicate the heated and cold
the Y-component velocity, and s the time. Ri is the Richardson num- walls, respectively. The heat transfer characteristics are described
ber (Ri = Gr/Re2), Gr is the Grashof number (Gr = gbW3DT/m2), Re is by the Nusselt number which is defined as follows:
the Reynolds number (Re = U0W/m), and Pr is the Prandtl number The local Nusselt number along the isothermal walls

(a) (b)

0°

15°

30°

45°

60°

75°

90°

Fig. 4. Variation of (a) streamlines and (b) isotherms with inclination angle for A = 0.2 and Ri = 1. Streamlines: W = 0.17–1.4  104, DW = 0.01144 for / = 0–30°;
W = 0.06–0.08, DW = 0.01 for / = 45–90°. Isotherms: h = 0–1, Dh = 0.0625.
112 T.S. Cheng, W.-H. Liu / Computers & Fluids 100 (2014) 108–122


@h  2
X ¼  @@nW2 on all walls
NuðXÞ ¼   ð6Þ
@Y Y¼0;1
(iv) Temperature
The average Nusselt number along the isothermal walls
@h
Z 1
h = 1 at hot wall, h = 0 at cold wall, and @X ¼ 0 on adiabatic wall.
Nu ¼ NuðXÞdX ð7Þ
0

It is noted that Eq. (6) is calculated using a fourth-order one- 3. Numerical approach
sided approximation and Eq. (7) is integrated using Simpson’s rule.
The boundary conditions applied to the computational domain 3.1. Spatial discretization and temporal integration
are given as follows:
In order to numerically solve the governing equations for the 2-
(i) Velocity D velocity and temperature fields, Eqs. (1)–(3) are discretized spa-
tially into a fourth-order accurate compact form as proposed by
U = 1 on the top wall and U = 0 on the rest of walls Erturk and Gökçöl [34]. For temporal integration, several iterative
V = 0 on all walls numerical methods such as successive over-relaxation (SOR), alter-
nating direction implicit (ADI), factorization scheme, and pseudo
(ii) Streamfunction time iteration can be used for the integration of governing equa-
tions. In the present study, the pseudo time iterative method is
w = 0 on all walls adopted to solve Eqs. (1)–(3). For more detailed derivations of
the fourth-order compact scheme of the Navier–Stokes equations
(iii) Vorticity the reader is referred to the works of Erturk and Gökçöl [34].

(a) (b)

0°

15°

30°

45°

60°

75°

90°

Fig. 5. Variation of (a) streamlines and (b) isotherms with inclination angle for A = 0.2 and Ri = 100. Streamlines: W = 1.2–1.2, DW = 0.17143 for / = 0–15°; W = 0.014–1.1,
DW = 0.07957 for / = 30–90°. Isotherms: h = 0–1, Dh = 0.0625.
 T.S. Cheng, W.-H. Liu / Computers & Fluids 100 (2014) 108–122 113

The numerical solution is made by solving sequentially the 1200

streamfunction, vorticity, and temperature equations and advanced (a)
1000
into a next time level by solving two tridiagonal systems of each
equation. The steady-state solution is declared when the maximum 800
residual value ðmaxðjðunþ1  un Þ=un jÞÞbetween two successive
600
time steps is less than 108, where u represents w, x, and h. The
time step ds = 0.001 is used throughout the present study. 400
(b)
3.2. Code validation and grid independence test 1000

Total Kinetic Energy

The present 2-D computer code has been applied to study the 800
effect of temperature gradient orientation [12] and of various Rich-
ardson and Prandtl numbers [13] on the characteristics of mixed 600
convection flow in a lid-driven square cavity. In addition, the code (c)
was validated by comparing the calculated average Nusselt num- 300
ber at the top wall with the numerical results of Iwatsu et al. [5]
200 200 204 208 212 216 220
and Sharif [30] for a top heated moving lid and bottom cooled
square cavity filled with air (Pr = 0.71) as shown in Ref. [13]. It is 100
noted that our studies employed a fourth-order accurate compact
(d)
scheme, while a second-order accurate scheme was used by Iwatsu
1200
et al. [5] and Sharif [30].
The grid independence study is performed for the case of 800
Re = 316 and Ri = 1 in a top cooled moving lid and bottom heated
400
square cavity (A = 1). The calculated vertical velocity at the mid-
height of the cavity and the local Nusselt number along the bottom 0
wall are compared in Fig. 2 for the grid sizes of 64  64, 128  128, 0 200 400 600 800 1000
and 256  256. It can be seen that the differences of the calculated Dimensionless Time
velocity and Nusselt number are very small among three meshes
used and the grid size of 128  128 is sufficient for A = 1 calcula- Fig. 6. Typical time traces of the total kinetic energy in the cavity for (a) steady-
state condition, (b) non-periodic oscillation, (c) periodic oscillation, and (d) non-
tions. Therefore, a uniform grid of 640  128, 128  128, and periodic oscillation.
128  640 is used for A = 0.2, 1, and 5 calculations, respectively.

4. Results and discussion

16
As stated earlier, the objective of the present study is to inves- φ = 0° (a)
tigate the effects of inclination angle (/ = 0–90°), Richardson num- φ = 15 ° A = 0.2, Ri = 0.01
12
ber (Ri = 0.01, 1, and 100), and aspect ratio (A = 0.2, 1, and 5) on the φ = 30 °
flow structures and heat transfer in a lid-driven cavity. The Rich- φ = 45 °
8 φ = 60 °
ardson numbers (Ri) of 0.01, 1, and 100 are corresponding to Ray-
φ = 75 °
leigh numbers (Ra) of 71, 7100, and 7.1  105, respectively. For
4 φ = 90 °
each aspect ratio, numerical simulations are performed for the
cases of Ri = 0.01, 1, and 100 with seven different values of inclina-
tion angles (/ = 0°, 15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 75°, and 90°). For each case, 0
the Reynolds number is fixed at 100. It is noted that time trace (b)
of the total kinetic energy in the cavity is also made in the present 12 A = 0.2, Ri = 1
study to monitor whether the flow changes from laminar to chaos.
Local Nu

For some cases, the steady-state solution is not obtainable and the
8
total kinetic energy appears to be in periodic or non-periodic oscil-
lation. This indicates that the flow has undergone a Hopf bifurca-
tion and for such a case, the calculation is terminated at 4
s = 1000. The total kinetic energy is calculated using the expression
given by Goyon [35] 0
(c)
!1=2
X
ðnx;nyÞ h i A = 0.2, Ri = 100
2 2
Eðn  dtÞ ¼ ðU ni;j Þ þ ðV ni;j Þ ð8Þ 20
ði;jÞ¼ð1;1Þ

Numerical results are shown in terms of parametric presenta-

tions of streamlines, isotherms, and local as well as average Nusselt 10
numbers for various aspect ratios, Richardson numbers, and incli-
nation angles.
0
4.1. Effect of / and Ri on the flow and heat transfer for A = 0.2 0 1 2 3 4 5
X
The effects of inclination angle and Richardson number on Fig. 7. Variation of local Nusselt number along the heated wall with inclination
the evolution of flow and thermal field for A = 0.2 are shown in angle for A = 0.2, Ri = 0.01, 1, and 100.
114 T.S. Cheng, W.-H. Liu / Computers & Fluids 100 (2014) 108–122

Figs. 3–5. For the forced convection dominated regime with is driven by the top lid and impacts on the sidewall and is forced to
Ri = 0.01 (Fig. 3), the flow field is characterized by a primary clock- move downward. The isotherms indicate that a high temperature
wise recirculating vortex near the right-hand wall where the flow gradient occurs at the locations near the top left corner and the

0°

30°

60°

90°

Fig. 8. Variation of streamlines (left) and isotherms (right) with inclination angle for A = 1 and Ri = 0.01. Streamlines: W = 0.1–1  106, DW = 0.00714. Isotherms: h = 0–1,
Dh = 0.0625.
 T.S. Cheng, W.-H. Liu / Computers & Fluids 100 (2014) 108–122 115

bottom right corner. Note that the cluster of isotherms is an indi- For the mixed convection regime with Ri = 1 (Fig. 4), the effect
cation of high temperature gradient. The cavity inclination has of cavity inclination is visible. When / = 0°, a primary clockwise
no effect on the flow patterns and isotherms. recirculating vortex exists in the cavity. As the cavity is inclined

0°

15°

30°

90°

Fig. 9. Variation of streamlines (left) and isotherms (right) with inclination angle for A = 1 and Ri = 1. Streamlines: W = 0.13–1  104, DW = 0.00929 for / = 0–15°;
W = 0.055–0.037, DW = 0.00657 for / = 30–90°. Isotherms: h = 0–1, Dh = 0.0625.
116 T.S. Cheng, W.-H. Liu / Computers & Fluids 100 (2014) 108–122

(a) 0° 15° 30°

1

0.75

0.5

0.25

0
0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1

45° 75° 90°

(b) 0° 15° 30°

45° 75° 90°

Fig. 10. Variation of (a) streamlines and (b) isotherms with inclination angle for A = 1 and Ri = 100. Streamlines: W = 0.4–0.4, DW = 0.05 for / = 0°; W = 0.04–0.87,
DW = 0.03957 for / = 15°; W = 0.0009–0.4, DW = 0.02864 for / = 30–45°; W = 0.0009–0.25, DW = 0.01792 for / = 75°; W = 0.0094–0.16, DW = 0.00892 for / = 90°.
Isotherms: h = 0–1, Dh = 0.0625.
 T.S. Cheng, W.-H. Liu / Computers & Fluids 100 (2014) 108–122 117

to 15°, two small counter-clockwise bubbles are developed along
the bottom wall. The two small bubbles continue to develop bigger
with increasing the inclination angle and eventually merge into a
single counter-clockwise recirculating vortex covering the bottom
half of the cavity. When / = 45°, two major recirculating vortices
are formed in the cavity. The one on the top is in clockwise recir-
culation (dashed-line contour), while the bottom one is in coun-
ter-clockwise recirculation (solid-line contour). Further increase
of inclination angle has little impact on the flow patterns. The iso-
therms show that a high temperature gradient occurs at the loca-
tions near the top left corner and the bottom right corner for /
= 0–30°. As the cavity is inclined to 45°, the high temperature gra-
dient located near the top left corner moves to the bottom left cor-
ner and the one located near the bottom right corner moves to a
slightly upper position. Further increase of inclination angle does
not affect the distribution of isotherms.
For the natural convection dominated regime with Ri = 100
(Fig. 5), the cavity inclination has significant impact on the flow
and thermal fields. When / = 0°, two pairs of counter-recirculating
vortices are formed in the cavity. As the cavity is inclined to 15°,
the increased buoyancy force results in an elongation of the coun-
ter-clockwise recirculating vortex located near the right-hand wall
and push the adjacent clockwise recirculating vortex towards left.
At this moment, only three vortices exist in the cavity and the flow
is in steady-state condition (see Fig. 6a). When / = 30°, the flow
approaches to an unsteady state condition due to further increased
buoyancy force. Typical time traces of the total kinetic energy in
the cavity for steady-state condition, non-periodic oscillation,
and periodic oscillation are illustrated in Fig. 6. It can be seen form
Fig. 6a that for the case of / = 15°, the total kinetic energy attains a
constant value after several oscillations. This fact suggests that the
flow becomes steady finally. However, a non-periodic oscillation of
the total kinetic energy (Fig. 6b) is observed for / = 30–90°. There-
fore, the streamlines and isotherms for / = 30–90° are plotted at
s = 1000.
The effect of inclination angle and Richardson number on the
variation of local Nusselt number along the heated bottom wall
for A = 0.2 is shown in Fig. 7. It can be seen that the cavity incli-
nation has no effect on the heat transfer for Ri = 0.01 (Fig. 7a).
The Nusselt number starts with a high value at the left end,
decreases suddenly to a small value, and then continues to
increase again towards the right end. The high value of the local
Nusselt number at the left end of the hot wall can be attributed
to the impinging effect of the recirculating flow stream in this
location. The peak Nusselt number located near X = 4.5 corre-
4.2. Effect of / and Ri on the flow and heat transfer for A = 1
The effects of inclination angle and Richardson number on the
streamlines and isotherms for A = 1 are shown in Figs. 8–10. For
the forced convection dominated regime with Ri = 0.01 (Fig. 8),
the flow field is characterized by a primary clockwise recirculating
vortex covering almost the entire cavity where the flow is driven
by the top lid. The weak buoyancy force induces two small vortices
located at the bottom left and right corners. The cavity inclination
has no effect on the flow patterns and isotherms.
For the mixed convection regime with Ri = 1 (Fig. 9), the effect
of cavity inclination is visible. When / = 0°, a primary clockwise
recirculating vortex exists in the cavity and a small counter-clock-
wise bubble is located at the bottom right corner. As the cavity is
inclined to 15°, the small counter-clockwise bubble begins to grow
bigger. When / = 30°, the small bubble develops into a big counter-
clockwise recirculating vortex covering the bottom half of the cav-
ity. At this inclination angle, two almost equivalent major recircu-
lating vortices are formed in the cavity. The one on the top is
driven by the shear force due to the moving top lid, while the bot-
tom one is induced by the buoyancy force due to the increased aid-
ing flow. Further increase of inclination angle to / = 45°, the
bottom recirculating vortex grows slightly bigger than the top
one as shown for / = 90°. The increase of inclination angle from
/ = 45° to 90° has little impact on the flow patterns. The isotherms
show that the high temperature gradient occurs at the locations
near the top left corner and the bottom right corner for / = 0°
and 15°. As the cavity is inclined to 30°, the high temperature
gradient located near the top left corner moves to the bottom left
corner and the one located near the bottom right corner moves to a
3
(a)
A = 1, Ri = 0.01
φ = 0°
2
φ = 15 °
φ = 30 °
φ = 45 °
1 φ = 60 °
φ = 75 °
φ = 90 °
0
A = 1, Ri = 1 (b)
4
Local Nu

sponds to the high temperature gradient as seen in Fig. 3b. For

Ri = 1, the effect of cavity inclination on the heat transfer is
discernible (Fig. 7b). The distributions of Nusselt number for
2
/ = 0–30° are similar to those for Ri = 0.01 cases except that
the Nusselt number decreases with increasing inclination angle.
As the cavity inclines to 45°, the distribution of Nusselt number
0
starts with a high value at the left end and decreases monoton-
A = 1, Ri = 100 (c)
ically to a small value towards the right end. Further increase of
the inclination angle has little effect on the heat transfer process. 12
For the horizontal cavity (/ = 0°) at Ri = 100 (Fig. 7c), besides the
peak at the left end, there are two peaks of Nusselt number 8
located at X = 1.3 and 3.4. When the inclination angle is
increased to / = 15°, the two peaks of Nusselt number move to
4
X = 0.3 and 2.4. These two peaks correspond to the high temper-
ature gradient as seen in Fig. 5b. When / = 30–90°, the flow is
0
unsteady. Therefore, the Nusselt number is obtained by averag-
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
ing the value over a period of time. The distributions of Nusselt
X
number for / = 30–90° are similar to the case of Ri = 1 with /
= 45–90° except that the local Nusselt numbers are slightly Fig. 11. Variation of local Nusselt number along the heated wall with inclination
higher for / = 30–90°. angle for A = 1, Ri = 0.01, 1, and 100.
118 T.S. Cheng, W.-H. Liu / Computers & Fluids 100 (2014) 108–122
slightly upper position. Further increase of inclination angle does
not affect the distribution of isotherms.
For the natural convection dominated regime with Ri = 100
(Fig. 10), the cavity inclination has significant impact on the flow
and thermal fields. When / = 0°, two counter-recirculating vortices
are formed in the cavity. As the cavity is inclined to 15°, the
increased buoyancy force results in the counter-clockwise recircu-
lating vortex growing bigger to occupy almost the entire cavity and
push the adjacent clockwise recirculating vortex to a thin region
beneath the top moving lid. When the angle is inclined to /
= 30°, the core region of the cell is broken into three cells. These
cells are changing in size, orientation, and number with increasing
inclination angle. When / = 90°, the flow is found to be in an
unsteady state and multi-cell is formed in the cavity. Time trace
of the total kinetic energy in the cavity is shown in Fig. 6c. The
insert in Fig. 6c clearly indicates that the flow is in periodic oscil-
lation. The isotherms as shown in Fig. 10b indicate that the high
temperature gradient occurs at the locations near the top right
end and the bottom left end for / = 15–90° and it moves closer
to the corner with increasing inclination angle. For / = 0°, the high
(a) 0° 15° 30°
(b) 0° 15° 30°
Fig. 12. Variation of (a) streamlines and (b) isotherms with inclination angle for A = 5 and Ri = 100. Streamlines: W = 0.1–1  107, DW = 0.00625 for / = 0°; W = 0.1–
9  105, DW = 0.00626 for / = 15–90°. Isotherms: h = 0–1, Dh = 0.025.
temperature gradient appears at the top and bottom left corner as
well as at the location where two counter-recirculating vortices
interact.
The effect of inclination angle and Richardson number on the
variation of local Nusselt number along the heated bottom wall
for A = 1 is shown in Fig. 11. It can be seen that the cavity inclina-
tion has no effect on the heat transfer for Ri = 0.01 (Fig. 11a). The
peak Nusselt number located near X = 0.7 corresponds to the high
temperature gradient as seen in Fig. 8. For Ri = 1, the effect of cavity
inclination on the heat transfer is evident (Fig. 11b). The distribu-
tions of Nusselt number for / = 0° and 15° are similar to those for
Ri = 0.01 cases except that the Nusselt number decreases with
increasing inclination angle. The peak Nusselt number located near
X = 0.6, again, corresponds to the high temperature gradient as
seen in Fig. 9. As the cavity inclines to 30°, the distribution of Nus-
selt number is in reversion to that for / = 0° and 15°. The peak
value occurs at X = 0.2. Further increase of the inclination angle
has little effect on the heat transfer process. It can be seen from
Fig. 11b that for the case of A = 1 and Ri = 1, the increase of inclina-
tion angle decreases the convective heat transfer. For Ri = 100
45° 60° 75° 90°
45° 60° 75° 90°
 T.S. Cheng, W.-H. Liu / Computers & Fluids 100 (2014) 108–122
(Fig. 11c), the peak Nusselt number is located at the left end. In
general, the increase of inclination angle increases the local heat
transfer.
4.3. Effect of / and Ri on the flow and heat transfer for A = 5
The effects of inclination angle and Richardson number on the
evolution of flow and thermal field for A = 5 are shown in Figs. 12–
14. For the forced convection dominated regime with Ri = 0.01
(Fig. 12), the flow field is characterized by a primary clockwise
recirculating vortex near the top moving lid. For this slender cavity,
the flow recirculation driven by the shear force can penetrate only
one unit of cavity height. The rest space of the cavity remains
almost stagnant. The isotherms also indicate that a thermally strat-
ified region in the vertical direction appears in the bottom of the
primary recirculating vortex and conduction is the principal mode
of heat transfer in that region. The conduction mode appeared in
the forced convection dominated flow would decrease the heat
transfer rate as compared to the other cases and will be seen in
(a) 0° 15° 30°
(b) 0° 15° 30°
Fig. 13. Variation of (a) streamlines and (b) isotherms with inclination angle for A = 5 and Ri = 100. Streamlines: W = 0.07–0.04, DW = 0.00786. Isotherms: h = 0–1,
Dh = 0.025.
119
Fig. 16. The cavity inclination has almost no effect on the flow pat-
terns and isotherms.
For the mixed convection regime with Ri = 1 (Fig. 13), the effect
of cavity inclination is minor. When / = 0°, a small clockwise recir-
culating vortex and a large counter-clockwise recirculating vortex
coexist in the cavity. Similar to the case of Ri = 0.01, the flow recir-
culation driven by the shear force penetrate only one unit of cavity
height. As the cavity is inclined to 15°, the counter-clockwise recir-
culating vortex located at the bottom of the cavity begins to
develop bigger and squeeze the size of the top vortex. When the
inclination angle is increased to 45°, the top vortex is compressed
to half of the size at / = 0°. Further increase of inclination angle has
no impact on the flow patterns. The isotherms show that a high
temperature gradient occurs at the locations near the top and bot-
tom left corners as well as at the location where two recirculating
vortices interact. As the cavity is inclined from / = 0° to 45°, the
high temperature gradient located at the location between two
recirculating vortices moves to a slightly upper position. Further
increase of inclination angle from / = 45° to 90° does not affect
the distribution of isotherms.
45° 60° 75° 90°
45° 60° 75° 90°
120 T.S. Cheng, W.-H. Liu / Computers & Fluids 100 (2014) 108–122

For the natural convection dominated regime with Ri = 100
(Fig. 14), the cavity inclination has significant impact on the flow
and thermal fields. When / = 0°, three pairs of counter-recirculat-
ing vortices are formed in the cavity. As the inclination angle is
increased, the aiding of buoyancy effect from heated bottom wall
is also increased. The increased buoyancy force results in an elon-
gation or deformation of the vortices and influences the distribu-
tion of isotherms. Time traces of the total kinetic energy in the
cavity for various inclination angles indicate that for / = 0° and
90° the flow is in an unsteady state with periodic oscillation. The
recorded time trace of the total kinetic energy is similar to that
shown in Fig. 6c, but with smaller amplitude and period. For /
= 15°, 30°, and 45°, the flow is also in an unsteady state with
non-periodic oscillation. Typical time trace of the total kinetic
energy is shown in Fig. 6d. For / = 60° and 75°, the flow is in a
steady state and the time trace of the total kinetic energy is similar
to that shown in Fig. 6a.
The effect of inclination angle and Richardson number on the
variation of local Nusselt number along the heated bottom wall
for A = 5 is shown in Fig. 15. It can be seen that the cavity
inclination has no effect on the heated bottom wall heat transfer
for Ri = 0.01 and 1 (Fig. 15a and b). The Nusselt number starts with
a high value at the left end and decreases suddenly to a small value
towards the right end. For Ri = 100, the effect of cavity inclination
on the heat transfer is discernible (Fig. 15c). The local Nusselt num-
ber increases with increasing inclination angle.
4.4. Effect of / and Ri on the average Nusselt number
The effect of the cavity inclination, aspect ratio, and Richardson
number on the overall Nusselt number at the heated bottom wall,
which is a measure of the overall heat transfer rate, is illustrated in
Fig. 16. It can be seen that the cavity inclination almost has no
effect on the overall heat transfer process for the dominating
forced convection regime (Ri = 0.01) in the three different geomet-
rical cavities (A = 0.2, 1, and 5). The increase of the cavity inclina-
tion decreases the average Nusselt number for the mixed
convection regime (Ri = 1) in the A = 0.2 and 1 cavities. For the pure
nature convection dominated regime (Ri = 100) with / = 0°, the
maximum average Nusselt number occurs in the shallow cavity

(a) 0° 15° 30° 45° 60° 75° 90°

(b) 0° 15° 30° 45° 60° 75° 90°

Fig. 14. Variation of (a) streamlines and (b) isotherms with inclination angle for A = 5 and Ri = 100. Streamlines: W = 0.6–0.5, DW = 0.07857 for / = 0–30°; W = 0.02–1.1,
DW = 0.08 for / = 45–60°; W = 0.009–0.35, DW = 0.02564 for / = 75–90°. Isotherms: h = 0–1, Dh = 0.025.
 T.S. Cheng, W.-H. Liu / Computers & Fluids 100 (2014) 108–122 121

40 (A = 0.2). However, the increase of the cavity inclination decreases

A = 5, Ri = 0.01 (a) the average Number in the A = 0.2 cavity. On the contrary, the aver-
30 φ = 0° age Nusselt number is increased with increasing the cavity inclina-
φ = 15 ° tion for Ri = 100 in the A = 1 and 5 cavities. The maximum average
φ = 30 ° Nusselt number is found to occur at / = 75°.
20
φ = 45 °
φ = 60 ° 5. Conclusions
10 φ = 75 °
φ = 90 ° Numerical simulations of mixed convection in a 2-D
0 lid-driven cavity are performed to investigate systematically
A = 5, Ri = 1 (b) the effects of inclination angle (/ = 0–90°), Richardson number
30 (Ri = 0.01, 1, and 100), and aspect ratio (A = 0.2, 1, and 5) on
the flow structures and heat transfer. The two vertical walls of
Local Nu

the cavity are adiabatic while the top moving-wall and the
20
bottom wall are maintained isothermally but the temperature
of the bottom wall is higher than that of the top moving-wall.
10 The governing equations for the 2-D velocity and temperature
fields are discretized spatially into a fourth-order accurate
0 compact form and integrated temporally by the pseudo time
A = 5, Ri = 100 (c) iteration method. From the numerical results, the findings are
50
summarized as follows:
40
(1) For the case of A = 0.2 and Ri = 0.01, the effect of the mechan-
30
ically-driven top lid dominates the entire cavity and gener-
20 ates a primary clockwise recirculating vortex. The
buoyancy force induces two small counter-clockwise vorti-
10
ces located at the bottom corners. The cavity inclination
0 has no effect on the flow patterns, isotherms, and local heat
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 transfer. For Ri = 1, the effect of cavity inclination on the flow
X patterns, isotherms, and local heat transfer is visible for /
= 0–45°. Originally, a primary clockwise recirculating vortex
Fig. 15. Variation of local Nusselt number along the heated wall with inclination
becomes two major counter-recirculating vortices with
angle for A = 5, Ri = 0.01, 1, and 100.
increasing the inclination angle. As a result, the distribution
of isotherms and local heat transfer is also changed. Further
8
increase of inclination angle from / = 45° to 90° has little
A = 0.2 (a)
impact on the flow structures and heat transfer. For
6 Ri = 100, the cavity inclination has significant impact on
the flow and thermal fields. When / = 0° and 15°, the flow
4 is in a steady state and is characterized by pairs of coun-
ter-recirculating vortices. However, the flow undergoes a
2 Hopf bifurcation when / = 30–90°. Time trace of the total
kinetic energy in the cavity appears to be in non-periodic
oscillation.
0
(2) For the case of A = 1 and Ri = 0.01, the flow field, which is
A=1 (b) similar to that of A = 0.2 and Ri = 0.01, is characterized by a
6 primary clockwise recirculating vortex covering almost the
Average Nu

Ri = 0.01 entire cavity with two small vortices located at the bottom
4 Ri = 1 corners. The cavity inclination has no effect on the flow pat-
Ri = 100 terns, isotherms, and local heat transfer. For Ri = 1, a primary
2
clockwise recirculating vortex exists in the cavity and a
small counter-clockwise bubble is located at the bottom
right corner. The small bubble begins to grow bigger with
0
increasing inclination angle and finally develops into a big
A=5 (c) counter-clockwise recirculating vortex covering the bottom
6 half of the cavity when / = 30°. Further increase of inclina-
tion angle from / = 45° to 90° has little impact on the flow
4 structures, isotherms, and heat transfer. For Ri = 100, the
cavity inclination has significant impact on the flow and
thermal fields. The flow is in a steady state when / = 0–75°
2
and becomes unsteady at / = 90°. Time trace of the total
kinetic energy in the cavity shows a periodic oscillation.
0
(3) For the case of A = 5 and Ri = 0.01, the flow field is character-
0 15 30 45 60 75 90
ized by a primary clockwise recirculating vortex occupied
Inclination angle
one unit of cavity height with the rest of cavity almost stag-
Fig. 16. Variation of the average Nusselt number at the heated bottom wall with nant. A thermally stratified region in the vertical direction
inclination angle, aspect ratio, and Richardson number. appears in the bottom of the primary vortex. The cavity
122 T.S. Cheng, W.-H. Liu / Computers & Fluids 100 (2014) 108–122
inclination has no effect on the flow patterns, isotherms, and
local heat transfer. For Ri = 1, a small clockwise recirculating
vortex and a large counter-clockwise recirculating vortex
coexist in the cavity. The large vortex located at the bottom
of the cavity begins to develop bigger and squeezes the size
of the top vortex when the inclination angle is increased
from / = 0° to 45°. Further increase of inclination angle from
/ = 45° to 90° has little effect on the flow structures and heat
transfer. For Ri = 100, the cavity inclination has significant
impact on the flow and thermal fields. Originally, three pairs
of counter-recirculating vortices are changed with increas-
ing the cavity inclination due to the increased buoyancy
effect. The increased buoyancy force results in an elongation
or deformation of the vortices and influences the distribu-
tion of isotherms. Time traces of the total kinetic energy in
the cavity indicate that the flow is in an unsteady state with
periodic oscillation for / = 0° and 90°, in an unsteady state
with non-periodic oscillation for / = 15–45°, and in a steady
state for / = 60° and 75°.
(4) The calculated average Nusselt number indicates that the
increase of cavity inclination has no effect on the overall
heat transfer process for Ri = 0.01 in the A = 0.2, 1, and 5 cav-
ities, but decreases the average Nusselt number for Ri = 1 in
the A = 0.2 and 1 cavities. For Ri = 100 with / = 0°, the max-
imum average Nusselt number occurs in the A = 0.2 cavity.
However, the increase of the A = 0.2 cavity inclination
decreases the average Number. On the contrary, the average
Nusselt number is increased with increasing the cavity incli-
nation for Ri = 100 in the A = 1 and 5 cavities. The maximum
heat transfer rate occurs at / = 75° and Ri = 100.
Acknowledgements
This work was partially supported by the National Science
Council of Taiwan, ROC through grant NSC 100-2221-E-216-012-
MY2.
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