A Numerical Approach for Natural

Srijit Sen
Convection With Curved
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Obstacles in an Enclosure Using
Surathkal, Mangalore 575025, Karnataka, India
e-mail: 16me274.srijit@nitk.edu.in Lattice Boltzmann Method
Tarun Hegde
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The impact of placing curved obstacles on natural convection in enclosures with differen-
National Institute of Technology Karnataka, tially heated side walls is analyzed in the current study using the lattice Boltzmann method

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Surathkal, Mangalore 575025, Karnataka, India
e-mail: tarun.181me280@nitk.edu.in
D. Arumuga Perumal1
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
National Institute of Technology Karnataka,
Surathkal, Mangalore 575025, Karnataka, India
e-mail: perumal@nitk.edu.in
Ajay Kumar Yadav
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
National Institute of Technology Karnataka,
Surathkal, Mangalore 575025, Karnataka, India
e-mail: ajaykyadav@nitk.edu.in
(LBM). A method to choose characteristic velocity based on Knudsen number is imple-
mented which eradicates the need of arbitrarily guessing characteristic velocities to
proceed with simulations. In addition, a less computationally intensive probability distribu-
tion function for equilibrium temperature is used. For validation, a standard natural con-
vection problem with left wall at high temperature, right wall at low temperature, and top
and bottom adiabatic walls is considered. A grid independence test is conducted and the
code is validated with existing results for various Rayleigh numbers, which shows a good
agreement. The problem is then modified by including circular and elliptical obstacles of
adiabatic, hot, and cold nature. A boundary interpolation technique is used to implement
the velocity and temperature boundary conditions at the inner boundaries. The streamline
patterns and temperature contours show interesting observations such as dependence of
location of vortices on the type of obstacle boundary used, and formation of low or high
temperature zones around obstacle at high Rayleigh numbers. Results show that the
change in the shape of the obstacle contributes to the Nusselt number variations at the
high temperature boundary and low Rayleigh numbers. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4053545]

Keywords: lattice Boltzmann method, natural convection, obstacle, curved boundary,

D2Q9 model, Rayleigh number, cavity flows, CFD methods, computational fluid
dynamics, computational heat transfer, fluid flow

Introduction convection in an inclined triangular cavity filled with water, with

a horizontal hot wall, vertical cold wall, and inclined insulated
Natural convection is known to have a lot of industrial and engi-
wall. Mansouri et al. [9] used MRT-LBM to study natural convec-
neering applications as well in solar dryers, cooling of small elec-
tion characteristic in a cavity micropolar fluid in it. Abouricha et al.
tronic systems, and battery cooling systems [1,2]. Natural
[10] modeled turbulent natural convection in a heated house where
convection in a cavity has been studied in detail using computa-
the source of heat was placed at the ground. The lattice Boltzmann
tional fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques by multiple authors. De
simulation of incompressible thermal flows in two and three dimen-
Vahl Davis [3] provided a benchmark solution for the case with
sions has been done by Perumal and Dass [11]. Karki et al. [12]
natural convection in a closed cavity with top and bottom walls
studied laminar natural convection and entropy generation in Ray-
with adiabatic boundary condition, the left wall at high temperature
leigh–Benard (R–B) convection with various nanofluids. Bhopalam
and the right wall at low temperature. This study is widely used for
et al. [13] have used lattice Boltzmann method to compute
validating newly developed natural convection codes. Aydin et al.
incompressible flows in a two-sided oscillating lid-driven cavity.
[4] studied steady natural convection in a two-dimensional (2D)
Bhopalam et al. [14] have used lattice Boltzmann method to
enclosure with a cooled ceiling and isothermal heating from one
compute flows in double-sided cross-shaped lid-driven cavities.
side and found that in shallow enclosures, the Rayleigh number
Natural convection with obstacles has attracted researchers due to
had a greater bearing on heat transfer. Dalal and Das [5] conducted
its various applications. Kim et al. [15] studied the natural convec-
a study of natural convection inside a rectangular cavity with
tion for the difference in temperature between a cold outer square
bottom wall having spatially varying temperature and other walls
enclosure and a hot inner circular cylinder over a range of Rayleigh
having constant low temperature using the SIMPLE algorithm
numbers 103 to 106. Kim et al. [16] conducted numerical simula-
with a higher order upwind scheme.
tions of natural convection in a square enclosure with a cylinder
Study on natural convection using lattice Boltzmann method
placed inside at a Prandtl number of 0.7 with different bottom
(LBM) have been conducted in the past decades due to the
wall temperatures using immersed boundary method. They found
various advantages such as suitability of parallel computing and
that a large Rayleigh number caused a significant variation in
lesser complexity of equations being solved. Dixit and Babu [6]
streamline patterns and isotherms in the enclosure with increase
simulated natural convection in a square cavity using LBM with a
in the bottom temperature. Liao and Lin [17] studied the influence
very fine grid of wall y + < 0.3 for higher Rayleigh numbers.
of Prandtl number on instability of natural convection flows within
Arumuga Perumal and Dass [7] reviewed the development of
an enclosure with a constant temperature circular cylinder placed at
lattice Boltzmann method for macro fluid flows and heat transfer
the center for moderate Rayleigh numbers. Karki et al. [18] studied
problems. Mejri et al. [8] studied the LBM simulation of natural
the effects of placing one, two, and four adiabatic square obstacles
inside a bounded enclosure at various Rayleigh numbers and
1 studied the influence of the obstacles on Nusselt number at cold
Corresponding author.
Manuscript received October 4, 2021; final manuscript received January 10, 2022; wall. Sen et al. [19] have studied mixed convection in a single as
published online February 25, 2022. Assoc. Editor: Ioannis K. Nikolos. well as double-sided lid-driven cavity using lattice Boltzmann

ASME Open Journal of Engineering 2022, Vol. 1 / 011004-1

Copyright © 2022 by ASME; reuse license CC-BY 4.0
method. Mei et al. [20] have used lattice Boltzmann method for features such as primary vortex is also studied. Laminar flow in
three-dimensional flows with curved boundaries. Bararnia et al. steady-state condition is considered for the present study. Results
[21] have used lattice Boltzmann method to simulate natural con- are obtained for various Rayleigh numbers at a fixed Prandtl
vection in a square enclosure having a horizontal elliptical cylinder. number of 0.71.
Yan and Zu [22] have simulated heat transfer and fluid flow past a
rotating isothermal cylinder using lattice Boltzmann method.
A Knudsen number based approach as proposed by Kao et al. Problem Specification
[23] is used to select characteristic velocity, thereby eliminating
The schematics that have been modeled are shown in Fig. 1. The
the need to randomly select relaxation times. A modified curved
square enclosure walls are stationary. The top and bottom walls are
boundary interpolation technique inspired by Yu et al.’s [24]
considered adiabatic. The left wall is considered to be at high tem-
approach is implemented to model the inner boundaries. In the
perature Th, whereas the right wall is maintained at low temperature
present work, different types of circular and elliptical obstacles
Tc. In the first case, a square cavity with no obstacle is considered
are placed inside a cavity. These obstacles are maintained adiabat-
for validation. The results produced by the developed code are com-
ically, at constant high temperature and at constant low temperature.
pared with results of De Vahl Davis [3], and a grid independence
The adiabatic obstacle helps us understand how the presence of an
test is also conducted. Second, circles with diameter d = 0.125L

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obstacle influences the flow characteristics within the enclosure
and d = 0.25L, where L represents the length which is taken equal
without transferring heat to the flow around it. This would
to the number of elements to make sure each element is unit size,
provide a case to study purely the effect of geometrical blockage
are placed at the center of the cavity. After that, an ellipse with hor-
in the domain. The obstacle is then given a constant high and cons-
izontal major axis a = 0.25L and vertical minor axis b = 0.125L is
tant low-temperature condition to study the effect of obstacle tem-
placed at the center of the domain. Lastly, an ellipse with horizontal
perature on the flow and observe how it affects the movement of
minor axis a = 0.125L and vertical major axis b = 0.25L is placed at
the fluid on its either side. Physically, contact with a hot wall
the center of the domain. All these obstacles are assigned three dif-
makes fluid relatively lighter and move upward whereas contact
ferent types of boundary conditions: adiabatic, hot, and cold bound-
with a cold wall makes the liquid relatively heavier and move down-
ary conditions.
ward. Our aim would thus be to search for these flow traits in our
results, and check if contact with a hot or cold obstacle would
create diagonal asymmetries in flow patterns. The effect of Rayleigh Methodology. The thermal LBM model for natural convection
number, obstacle size, and shape on the extent of shift in flow uses two probability distribution functions f and g for the flow

Fig. 1 Configurations simulated with boundary condition indicated: (a) domain for validation case, (b) domain with circular
obstacle, (c) domain with horizontal elliptical obstacle, and (d) domain with vertical elliptical obstacle

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8
T= gi (10)
i=0

The aim of the simulation is to reduce the difference between the

equilibrium distribution function and probability distribution func-
tion for both velocity and temperature. To start the simulation, three
important parameters need to be determined:
(1) The characteristic velocity for the simulation (unat): It is fixed
as a function of Knudsen number Kn, Rayleigh number Ra,
and Prandtl number Pr and specific heat γ

2RaKn2 c2
unat = (11)
πγPr

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Here, Kn = 10−4, Pr = 0.71, and γ = 1.4 yielding a characteristic
velocity such that Mach number is in the incompressible region.
(2) The momentum due to buoyant flow [25] gives three ways to
approximate the gravitational force term of which the follow-
ing method is chosen:

Fig. 2 Curved boundary condition for inner obstacle Fi = 3wi gβT(x, t)ρ(x, t)ciy (12)
where
and temperature field, respectively. The two distributions they obey u2nat
with respect to the BGK approximation are as follows: gβ = (13)
H
1
fi (x + ci Δt, t + Δt) − fi (x, t) = ( fieq (x, t) − fi (x, t)) + Fi (1) (3) The kinematic viscosity ν: The parameter used to evaluate
τ the relaxation time is calculated using the expression:

1 eq u2nat H 2 Pr
gi (x + ci Δt, t + Δt) − gi (x, t) = (g (x, t) − gi (x, t)) (2) ν= (14)
τs i Ra
Here, Fi is the momentum input due to buoyant flow as expressed
later. τ is the relaxation time of the flow field and τs is the relaxation Outer Wall Boundary Conditions. The boundary conditions
time of the temperature field given by for flow are considered to be bounce-back boundary conditions.
For instance at the left wall, directions pointing inward to the
τ = 3ν + 0.5 (3) domain that have a nonzero velocity component perpendicular to
the wall are evaluated in terms of known quantities as follows:
3ν
τs = + 0.5 (4)
Pr f1 (0, y) = f3 (0, y) (15)
τ and τs should be greater than 0.5 for the algorithm to be stable. The
equilibrium distribution functions fieq and geqi are chosen as f5 (0, y) = f7 (0, y) (16)


3(ci .u) 9(ci .u)2 3(u.u)
fieq = ρwi 1 + + − (5) f8 (0, y) = f6 (0, y) (17)
c2 2c4 2c2
The temperature boundary conditions at the left wall (Th = 1) at


3(ci .u) constant high temperature are evaluated as follows:
geq
i = Twi 1 + (6)
c2
g1 (0, y) = w1 + w3 − g3 (0, y) (18)
Here, the weights for each direction in the D2Q9 model are com-
puted as
⎧ g5 (0, y) = w5 + w7 − g7 (0, y) (19)
⎪ 4
⎪
⎪ if i = 0
⎪
⎪ 9
⎨ g8 (0, y) = w6 + w8 − g6 (0, y) (20)
1
wi = if i = 1, 2, 3, 4 (7)
⎪
⎪ 9
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎩ 1 if i = 5, 6, 7, 8 Table 1 Average Nusselt number for validation case
36
The flow and thermal properties are computed as Ra 103 104 105 106


8 Nu by Vahl Davis 1.118 2.243 4.519 8.825
ρ= fi (8) 81 × 81 1.1061 2.1931 4.4078 8.5271
i=0 % Error 1.0644 2.2247 2.4607 3.3756
101 × 101 1.1091 2.2072 4.4386 8.6064

% Error 0.7961 1.5961 1.7792 2.477
1 8
121 × 121 1.1112 2.216 4.4565 8.6549
u= fi ci (9) % Error 0.6082 1.2037 1.383 1.9274
ρ i=0

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 The temperature boundary conditions at the right wall (Tc = 0) at Results and Discussion
constant low temperature are evaluated as follows:
Validation. For validation, the case to be studied is shown in
g1 (L, y) = −g3 (L, y) (21) Fig. 1(a). The length of domain L and height of domain H is the
number of lattice elements in each direction. This is done to
ensure that each discretised cell has unit length and height. Under
g5 (L, y) = −g7 (L, y) (22) the section “Results and Discussion”, all figures are plotted in a
nondimensional sense, i.e., the x dimension is nondimensionalized
g8 (L, y) = −g6 (L, y) (23) by L, whereas the y dimension is nondimensionalized by H. A
lattice size independence test is performed with 80 × 80, 100 ×
The adiabatic boundary condition at top and bottom walls is eval- 100, and 120 × 120 configurations. The average Nusselt number
uated with the bounce-back boundary conditions. For instance, at for simulation is computed as
the top wall
L〈ux T 〉
Nuavg = 1 + (36)
g4 (x, H) = g2 (x, H) (24) αΔT

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where ΔT = 1 represents the temperature difference between
g7 (x, H) = g5 (x, H) (25)
domain walls. Average Nusselt number obtained from the current
simulations are compared with those obtained by De Vahl Davis
g8 (x, H) = g6 (x, H) (26) [3] and the results are presented in Table 1 showing a good agree-
ment with published data. The error showed an increase with the
increase in Rayleigh number. However as expected the error
Inner Wall Boundary Conditions. The boundary for curved decreased with the increase of number of nodes. The maximum
obstacles will not coincide with the nodal points in the domain error for simulation using a 100 × 100 grid was found to be
calling for the need of an interpolation scheme to satisfy appropriate 2.477% at Rayleigh number of 106. Since the simulations are
conditions at the boundary. The bounce-back condition for velocity fast and accurate using this lattice size, the lattice is used to
needs to be implemented at the boundary node xb as shown in Fig. 2 proceed with further endeavors. Figure 3 shows the velocity stream-
as implemented by Yu et al. [24]. During the collision step, value at lines and temperature contours obtained.
xff and xf are computed and during the streaming step, these values
are streamed along α direction to xf and xb, respectively. Using the
values of fα (xf ) and fα (xb ), the value of fα (xw ) is computed as Effects of Placing Obstacles in Enclosure
follows: Circular Obstacle With d = 0.125H. Figure 4 shows the impact
fα (xw ) = fα (xf ) + Δ( fα (xb ) − fα (xf )) (27) of placing an adiabatic circular obstacle with diameter d =
0.125H. From the figure it can be seen that at low Rayleigh
where Δ is computed as number (103 − 105), adiabatic obstacle marginally hinder the fluid
flow characteristics displayed by a differentially heated block
|xb − xf |
Δ= (28) without obstacles (which is shown in Fig. 3). We observe that
|xw − xf | similar to Fig. 3, the fluid moves up the hot wall and down the
cold wall and the obstacle. For all values of Ra, a change in tem-
perature contours is observed surrounding the obstacle and centro-
The bounce-back condition at the boundary is implemented by symmetry of velocity streamline patterns can also be seen from the
the following relation: figures. At a higher Rayleigh number of 106, the obstacle causes the
fβ (xw ) = fα (xw ) (29) development of more than two primary vortices, and a secondary
vortex being clearly visible on the right-hand side of the obstacle
The values of fβ (xf ) are computed by linearly interpolating which can be observed in Fig. 4(g). This is a clear deviation in
between fβ (xb ) and fβ (x ff ) as follows: flow behavior inside the cavity with and without obstacles which
strictly forms additional vortices.
Δ Figure 5 shows the impact of placing a cold circular obstacle with
fβ (xf ) = fβ (xb ) + ( fβ (x ff ) − fβ (xw )) (30)
Δ+1 diameter d = 0.125H in the enclosure. In Fig. 5(b), when the cold
obstacle is placed at low Rayleigh number, Ra = 103, an extended
For temperature, a similar treatment is used. The first step region of low temperature is formed to the right side of the domain,
remains preserved engulfing the obstacle itself. Unlike the adiabatic case, centro-
symmetry of velocity streamlines is not observed for the cold obstacle
gα (xw ) = gα (xf ) + Δ(gα (xb ) − gα (xf )) (31)
case. At Ra = 104, the flow field develops a vortex to the left of the
For adiabatic boundary condition, the bounce-back condition is obstacle which can be seen in Fig. 5(c). The cold obstacle causes
used the fluid around it to move downward by increasing its density.
This will lead to the formation of a primary vortex on the left side
gβ (xw ) = gα (xw ) (32) of the circular obstacle as the fluid is moving up along the hot wall.
A bounded region of low temperature (T < 0.1) is formed around
For the cold and warm wall condition, respectively, modified ver- the circular portion indicating the penetration of slightly higher tem-
sions of the equation are used perature fields between the obstacle and the cold wall. At Ra = 105,
two vortices are noted on either side of the obstacle in Fig. 5(e) but
gβ (xw ) = −gα (xw ) (33) due to the cold nature of the obstacle, the left vortex is larger in
size. This occurs as the fluid on the left wall tends to move up the
gβ (xw ) = w(β) + w(α) − gα (xw ) (34) hot wall, whereas the flow close to the obstacle tends to move down-
ward, and thus establishes a more powerful vortex on the left side.
The third interpolation step remains similar to the flow field inter- This dissimilarity in vortex sizes is not expected in the case of adia-
polation batic obstacles as the obstacle itself just acts as blockage and uni-
formly changes flow features in both the right half and left half of
Δ
gβ (xf ) = gβ (xb ) + (gβ (x ff ) − gβ (xw )) (35) the domain. The bounded region of low temperature (T < 0.1) as
Δ+1 described above are observed for this case in the form of smaller

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Fig. 3 Streamlines and contours of enclosure with heated side walls: (a) velocity streamlines
for Ra = 103, (b) temperature contour for Ra = 103, (c) velocity streamlines for Ra = 104, (d) tem-
perature contour for Ra = 104, (e) velocity streamlines for Ra = 105, ( f ) temperature contour for
Ra = 105, (g) velocity streamlines for Ra = 106, and (h) temperature contour for Ra = 106

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Fig. 4 Streamline patterns and temperature contours of enclosure with adiabatic circular
obstacle (d = 0.125H ): (a) velocity streamlines for Ra = 103, (b) temperature contour for
Ra = 103, (c) velocity streamlines for Ra = 104, (d ) temperature contour for Ra = 104, (e) velo-
city streamlines for Ra = 105, ( f ) temperature contour for Ra = 105, (g) velocity streamlines
for Ra = 106, and (h) temperature Contour for Ra = 106

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Fig. 5 Streamline patterns and temperature contours of enclosure with cold circular obsta-
cle (d = 0.125H ): (a) velocity streamlines for Ra = 103, (b) temperature contour for Ra = 103, (c)
velocity streamlines for Ra = 104, (d) temperature contour for Ra = 104, (e) velocity stream-
lines for Ra = 105, (f ) temperature contour for Ra = 105, (g) velocity streamlines for
Ra = 106, and (h) temperature contour for Ra = 106

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Fig. 6 Streamline patterns and temperature contours of enclosure with hot circular obstacle
(d = 0.125H ): (a) velocity streamlines for Ra = 103, (b) temperature contour for Ra = 103, (c)
velocity streamlines for Ra = 104, (d) temperature contour for Ra = 104, (e) velocity stream-
lines for Ra = 105, ( f ) temperature contour for Ra = 105, (g) velocity streamlines for Ra =
106, and (h) temperature contour for Ra = 106

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Fig. 7 Streamline patterns and temperature contours of enclosure with adiabatic circular
obstacle (d = 0.25H ): (a) velocity streamlines for Ra = 103, (b) temperature contour for Ra =
103, (c) velocity streamlines for Ra = 104, (d) temperature contour for Ra = 104, (e) velocity
streamlines for Ra = 105, ( f ) temperature contour for Ra = 105, (g) velocity streamlines for
Ra = 106, and (h) temperature contour for Ra = 106

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Fig. 8 Streamline patterns and temperature contours of enclosure with cold circular obsta-
cle (d = 0.25H ): (a) velocity streamlines for Ra = 103, (b) temperature contour for Ra = 103,
(c) velocity streamlines for Ra = 104, (d) temperature contour for Ra = 104, (e) velocity
streamlines for Ra = 105, ( f ) temperature contour for Ra = 105, (g) velocity streamlines for
Ra = 106, and (h) temperature contour for Ra = 106

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Fig. 9 Streamline patterns and temperature contours of enclosure with hot circular obsta-
cle (d = 0.25H ): (a) velocity streamlines for Ra = 103, (b) temperature contour for Ra = 103,
(c) velocity streamlines for Ra = 104, (d) temperature contour for Ra = 104, (e) velocity
streamlines for Ra = 105, (f ) temperature contour for Ra = 105, (g) velocity streamlines
for Ra = 106, and (h) temperature contour for Ra = 106

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Fig. 10 Streamline patterns and temperature contours of enclosure with adiabatic hori-
zontal elliptical obstacle: (a) velocity streamlines for Ra = 103, (b) temperature contour
for Ra = 103, (c) velocity streamlines for Ra = 104, (d ) temperature contour for Ra = 104,
(e) velocity streamlines for Ra = 105, ( f ) temperature contour for Ra = 105, (g) velocity
streamlines for Ra = 106, and (h) temperature contour for Ra = 106

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Fig. 11 Streamline patterns and temperature contours of enclosure with cold horizontal
elliptical obstacle: (a) velocity streamlines for Ra = 103, (b) temperature contour for Ra =
103, (c) velocity streamlines for Ra = 104, (d) temperature contour for Ra = 104, (e) velocity
streamlines for Ra = 105, (f ) temperature contour for Ra = 105, (g) velocity streamlines for
Ra = 106, and (h) temperature contour for Ra = 106

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Fig. 12 Streamline patterns and temperature contours of enclosure with hot horizontal
elliptical obstacle: (a) velocity streamlines for Ra = 103, (b) temperature contour for Ra =
103, (c) velocity streamlines for Ra = 104, (d) temperature contour for Ra = 104, (e) velocity
streamlines for Ra = 105, (f ) temperature contour for Ra = 105, (g) velocity streamlines for
Ra = 106, and (h) temperature contour for Ra = 106

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Fig. 13 Streamline patterns and temperature contours of enclosure with adiabatic vertical
elliptical obstacle: (a) velocity streamlines for Ra = 103, (b) temperature contour for Ra =
103, (c) velocity streamlines for Ra = 104, (d) temperature contour for Ra = 104, (e) velocity
streamlines for Ra = 105, ( f ) temperature contour for Ra = 105, (g) velocity streamlines for
Ra = 106, and (h) temperature contour for Ra = 106

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Fig. 14 Streamline patterns and temperature contours of enclosure with cold vertical ellip-
tical obstacle: (a) velocity streamlines for Ra = 103, (b) temperature contour for Ra = 103,
(c) velocity streamlines for Ra = 104, (d) temperature contour for Ra = 104, (e) velocity
streamlines for Ra = 105, ( f ) temperature contour for Ra = 105, (g) velocity streamlines for
Ra = 106, and (h) temperature contour for Ra = 106

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Fig. 15 Streamline patterns and temperature contours of enclosure with hot vertical ellipti-
cal obstacle: (a) velocity streamlines for Ra = 103, (b) temperature contour for Ra = 103,
(c) velocity streamlines for Ra = 104, (d) temperature contour for Ra = 104, (e) velocity stream-
lines for Ra = 105, (f ) temperature contour for Ra = 105, (g) velocity streamlines for Ra = 106,
and (h) temperature contour for Ra = 106

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Fig. 16 Variation of Nusselt number versus nondimensional height (Y/H) for adiabatic obstacles: (a) Nu hot wall versus Y/H
Ra = 103, (b) Nu hot wall versus Y/H Ra = 104, (c) Nu hot wall versus Y/H Ra = 105, (d) Nu Hot Wall v/s Y/H Ra = 106
circle. In Fig. 5(g), at Ra = 106, the flow turns chaotic with the devel-
opment of multiple vortices on both sides of the obstacle. The
bounded region of low temperature (T < 0.1) contracts for the obstacle
indicating a tendency of higher heat transfer similar to the tendency of
compression of isotherms near external walls at constant temperature.
Figure 6 shows the effect of placing a hot circular obstacle with
diameter d = 0.125H which is similar to the cold obstacle with
certain exceptions. Since the obstacle now has a high temperature
boundary condition, it tends to push the fluid upward by reducing
its density. The dominant primary vortex will now move to the
right side with the fluid being pushed down by the cold obstacle
interacting with the fluid being pushed up by the hot obstacle,
thus establishing a dominant loop. On the left side, the vortex
becomes weaker as the flow direction of the fluid near the cold
left wall and the central obstacle are similar in direction, nullifying
the strength of the left vortex, and making it a secondary vortex. The
bounded regions of low temperature are replaced with bounded
regions of high temperature (T > 0.9). At low Rayleigh number
the primary vortex is formed toward the right instead of the left
as seen in the cold wall case. Also, the streamline patterns and iso-
therms look like a mirror image along 45 deg line drawn from the
lower left end to the top right end of the enclosure, especially at
low Rayleigh numbers of 103 and 104. For isotherms, the value
assigned after taking the mirror image should be subtracted from
1 due to the change in type of obstacle.
Circular Obstacle With d = 0.25H. Figure 7 shows the
streamline patterns and isotherms when an adiabatic circular
obstacle with diameter d = 0.25H, which is two times the
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size of the previous obstacle, is placed in the enclosure.
The effect is identical to the adiabatic smaller obstacle case
where at low Rayleigh numbers (103 − 105), the obstacle has
marginal effect on the fluid flow characteristics shown by a
differentially heated block in the absence of obstacles. From
the figures, we can also observe centro-symmetry of velocity
streamline patterns which was also seen in the smaller circular
obstacle case. In Fig. 7(g), for a higher Rayleigh number like
106, the development of more than two primary vortices and a
secondary vortex are clearly visible on the right-hand side of
the circular obstacle.
Figure 8 shows the impact of placing a cold circular obstacle with
diameter d = 0.25H in the enclosure. Similar to the previous cold
obstacle case, a vortex on the left side of the larger circular obstacle
is formed due to its cold nature which pushes the fluid downward
and this combined with the upward motion of the fluid along the
hot wall leads to the formation of a primary vortex on the right
side. In Fig. 8(b), similar to the smaller circular obstacle at Ra =
103, a region of low temperature is formed on the right side of
the domain. At Ra = 104, the streamline patterns in Fig. 8(c) shows
a vortex to the left of the obstacle. Also from the isotherms, it is
seen that the obstacle is encapsulated by a constant temperature
contour region which becomes smaller in area, indicating higher
levels of heat transfer near the top portion of the cold outer wall. At
Ra = 105, one vortex is formed to the left of the obstacle. In this
case, physically a similar trend is observed with respect to placing
the smaller cooled circular obstacle. However, it is noticed that the
secondary vortex almost disappears. This can be attributed to the
size of the cooled obstacle, which cools more fluid down, and thus
Transactions of the ASME

Fig. 17 Variation of Nusselt number versus nondimensional height (Y/H) for cold wall obstacles: (a) Nu hot wall versus Y/H
Ra = 103, (b) Nu hot wall versus Y/H Ra = 104, (c) Nu hot wall versus Y/H Ra = 105, (d) Nu hot wall versus Y/H Ra = 106
on the left side, matches the flowrate of fluid flowing down near the
right cold wall. Similar amount of cooling results in nullification of
the right vortex. This tendency is in direct contrast to the case with adi-
abatic obstacles, where two clearly distinguishable vortices of equal
size are noticed on the right and left side, which implies the effect is
not influenced by geometrical blockage, but by the virtue of a larger
sink at the center of the domain. At Ra = 106, the flow becomes
chaotic. A notable shift of cold region from being concentrated
along the low temperature to being dominant near the horizontal adi-
abatic wall is noticed for the larger obstacle at Ra = 106 (Fig 8(h)).
Figure 9 shows the effect of placing a hot circular obstacle with
diameter d = 0.25H in the enclosure. From the streamline patterns
and isotherms, it can be seen that the results obtained are similar to
the cold circular obstacle but with some differences. In Fig. 9(b),
when Ra = 103, a region of high temperature is formed on the left
side of the domain. The hot nature of the obstacle increases the tem-
perature of the fluid around it making it lighter. This combined with
the effect of the cold wall leads to a vortex being formed on the right
side of the domain, and similar to the colder case, the secondary
vortex is suppressed. At Ra = 104, the streamline patterns show a
vortex to the right of the obstacle (Fig. 9(c)). At Ra = 105, one
vortex is formed to the right of the obstacle (Fig. 9(e)) and at Ra =
105, the flow becomes chaotic (Fig. 9(g)).
Horizontal Elliptical Obstacle. The streamline patterns and iso-
therms developed, when an adiabatic horizontal elliptical obstacle is
placed in the enclosure, is shown in Fig. 10. For low Rayleigh
numbers (103−105), the adiabatic horizontal elliptical obstacle
does little to hinder the flow characteristics obtained in differentially
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heated block without obstacles. For Ra = 103, the circular vortices
which were observed in the circular obstacle case have now become
elliptical in shape and like the other adiabatic cases, centro-
symmetry of velocity streamline patterns can also be seen. In
Fig. 10(g), when Ra = 106, the development of more than two
primary vortices is noticed with the secondary vortex on the left-
hand side of the obstacle unlike the circular obstacles where the sec-
ondary vortex was on the right-hand side.
Figure 11 shows the streamline patterns and isotherms obtained
when a cold horizontal elliptical obstacle is placed in the domain.
At Ra = 103, an extended region of low temperature is formed on
right side of the obstacle (Fig. 11(b)), engulfing it. Just like the circu-
lar obstacle cases, the cold wall of the obstacle makes the surrounding
fluid colder and heavier which causes the formation of the vortex on
its left side as the fluid is moving up the hot wall. For Ra = 104, devel-
opment of a vortex to the left of the obstacle is observed (Fig. 11(c)).
Similar to the larger circular obstacle, a constant temperature contour
region is observed which encloses the obstacle and becomes smaller
in area. In Fig. 11(e), at Ra = 105, the horizontal ellipse forms one
vortex to the left of the obstacle. The flow turns chaotic at Ra =
106 which is indicated by the development of multiple vortices on
either side of the obstacle (Fig. 11(g)).
Figure 12 shows the effect of placing a hot horizontal elliptical
obstacle in the enclosure. The hot wall of the obstacle combined
with the cold right wall of the enclosure allow the formation of a
vortex on the right side of the elliptical obstacle which is a
feature also observed in the hot circular obstacles. The bounded
regions of low temperature observed in the cold elliptical case are
replaced with bounded regions of high temperature (T > 0.9). At
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Fig. 18 Variation of Nusselt number versus nondimensional height (Y/H) for hot wall obstacles: (a) Nu hot wall versus Y/H
Ra = 103, (b) Nu hot wall versus Y/H Ra = 104, (c) Nu hot wall versus Y/H Ra = 105, and (d) Nu hot wall versus Y/H Ra = 106
low Rayleigh number, the primary vortex is formed toward the right
instead of the left as seen in the cold wall case.
Vertical Elliptical Obstacle. Figure 13 shows the streamline pat-
terns and isotherms developed when an adiabatic vertical elliptical
obstacle is kept in the enclosure. For low Rayleigh numbers (103 −
105), just like the other adiabatic obstacles, the adiabatic vertical
elliptical obstacle does little to hinder the flow characteristics
obtained in differentially heated block in the absence of obstacles
and centro-symmetry of velocity streamline patterns is observed
for all values of Ra. However in Fig. 13(g), at Ra = 106, unlike
the other adiabatic obstacles, the vertical elliptical obstacle does
not have a secondary vortex, indicating the decreased tendency
with an increased width to height ratio of the object placed.
Figure 14 shows the effect of placing a cold vertical elliptical
obstacle in the domain. At Ra = 103, the obstacle is engulfed by
a region of low temperature which is developed on the right side
(Fig. 14(b)). Just like the circular and horizontal elliptical obstacle
cases, for Ra = 104, a vortex is developed to the left side of the
obstacle (Fig. 14(c)) due to the combined effect of the cold obstacle
wall which pushes the fluid downward and left hot wall of the enclo-
sure which pushes the fluid upward. Similar to the larger circular
obstacle and the horizontal ellipse, a constant temperature contour
region is formed which encloses the obstacle and becomes
smaller in area.
At Ra = 105, the vertical ellipse forms two vortices on either side
of the obstacle (Fig. 14(e)). For Ra = 106, the flow turns chaotic just
like the horizontal ellipse case.
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Figure 15 shows the effect of placing a hot vertical elliptical
obstacle in the enclosure which is similar to the other hot obstacle
cases as the vortex is formed on the right side of the elliptical obsta-
cle as the fluid moves downward along the cold wall and upward
close to the hot obstacle due to effect of temperature on density
of the fluid. From the streamline patterns and isotherms, it can be
seen that the results obtained are similar to the cold wall elliptical
obstacle with small differences. At low Rayleigh number the
primary vortex is formed toward the right instead of the left as
observed in the cold wall case.
Comparing the results of horizontal and vertical obstacles at Ra =
105, we see that the horizontal extent of the source or sink plays a more
dominant effect in suppression of the secondary vortex in comparison
with the vertical extent of the source or sink. This could be attributed to
the fact that the distance between a point horizontally furthest from the
center of the obstacle, and a vertical wall of the domain are lower in the
case of the horizontal ellipse in comparison with the vertical obstacle.
This implies that a lowering of this particular distance affects flow
closer to the wall, thus suppressing the space available to form a sec-
ondary vortex. Another trend that is repeatedly observed is the flow
features observed for domains with cold obstacles are a mirror
image about a diagonal joining the lower right corner to the upper
left corner, of flow features observed for domains with warm obstacles.
This is justified as the obstacle produces opposing effects as far as
movement of the fluid near the obstacle is concerned.
Variation in Nusselt Number. As for Nusselt number variations
as shown in Figs. 16, 17, and 18, there is an increase in the hot wall
Transactions of the ASME
Nusselt number with increase in Rayleigh number and a decrease in
the same with the increase of height as can be implied from the
crowding of contour lines near the bottom of the hot wall. The var-
iations between Nusselt number of each obstacle decrease with the
increase of Rayleigh number clearly indicating the diminishing
importance of type of obstacle on the heat transfer near the hot
wall due to the crowding of contour lines irrespective of obstacle.
It is noted from the figures that the highest hot wall Nusselt
numbers at Ra = 103, for cold wall and hot/adiabatic walls, are
noted for the small circular and large circular obstacles, respec-
tively. The difference between hot wall Nusselt number is least
for the adiabatic case followed by the cold and warm obstacles.
Conclusion
The lattice Boltzmann method is used to compute the fluid flow
and heat transfer characteristics in a bounded enclosure with curved
obstacles of different shapes and sizes. An interpolation method is
presented to satisfy the adiabatic and constant temperature boundary
conditions. Streamline patterns, isotherms, and Nusselt number
variations along hot wall are presented and discussed in detail.
When an adiabatic obstacle is placed within the enclosure, very
little difference is observed when compared with the results obtained
in an enclosure with no obstacles for low Rayleigh numbers.
However at higher Rayleigh numbers, the obstacle causes the forma-
tion of more than two primary vortices. A secondary vortex is visible
on the right-hand side for circular obstacles of both diameters. In the
horizontal ellipse configuration, the secondary vortex is noticed
instead on the left-hand side. The vertical ellipse does not have a
visible secondary vortex, indicating the decreased tendency with
an increased width to height ratio of object placed.
With the cold obstacle placed at low Rayleigh number, Ra = 103,
an extended region of low temperature is formed to the right side of
the domain, engulfing the obstacle itself for all cases. The presence
of a cold obstacle in the middle of the domain causes the fluid to
move downward due to the increase in its density. This combined
with the movement of the fluid up along the hot wall leads to the
formation of a dominant vortex on the left side of the obstacle. At
Ra = 104 the flow field develops a vortex to the left of the obstacle
for all cases. At Ra = 105 two vortices are noted on either side of the
obstacle for the small circle and vertical ellipse, while the horizontal
ellipse and larger circle forms just one vortex to the left of the obsta-
cle. At Ra = 106 the flow turns chaotic for almost all cases with the
development of multiple vortices on both sides of the obstacle.
The behavior of enclosure with hot wall obstacle is similar to that
of the cold obstacle with certain exceptions. Since the cold tempera-
ture of the obstacle is replaced with a constant high temperature, the
dominant vortex is formed on the right side of the obstacle instead
of the left. The bounded regions of low temperature are replaced
with bounded regions of high temperature (T > 0.9). At low Ray-
leigh number, the primary vortex is formed toward the right
instead of the left as seen in the cold wall case.
The study reveals many interesting observations which include
the dependence of location of vortices on the type of obstacle
boundary used and formation of low or high temperature zones
around the obstacle at high Rayleigh numbers.
Conflict of Interest
There are no conflicts of interest. This article does not include
research in which human participants were involved. Informed
consent not applicable. This article does not include any research
in which animal participants were involved.
Data Availability Statement
The authors attest that all data for this study are included in the
paper.
ASME Open Journal of Engineering
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