Finite Element Simulation for Heatline Visualization of

Natural Convective
Flow and Heat Transfer inside a Prismatic Enclosure
M. S. Alam 1, 2 , M. M. Rahman 1,*, S. Parvin 3 and K. Vajravelu 4
1 Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 36, P.C. 123
AlKhod, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman
2 Department of Mathematics, Jagannath University, Dhaka-1100, Bangladesh
3 Department of Mathematics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology,
Dhaka-1000,
Bangladesh
4 Department of Mathematics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816, U
Published in: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEAT AND TECHNOLOGY (Vol. 34, No. 3,
September 2016, pp. 391-400)

Supervised By-
Presented By-
Dr. Sumon Saha
Md Rafiqul Hasan (1310094) Associate Professor
Md Jahid Hasan (1310096) Department of Mechanical Engineering, BUET
 Outline
 Introduction
 Objectives
 Physical Model
 Governing Equations
Numerical procedure
Grid sensitivity Test
 Results and Discussions
 Conclusions
 INTRODUCTION
 Identification of Convection based on Richardson number
 Natural convection: Caused by natural means such as buoyancy effect
when Ri  10.
 Forced convection: Caused by external means such as pump or fan when
Ri  0.1.
 Mixed Convection is combined natural and forced convection when 0.1 
Ri  10.
 where Richardson number, Ri = Gr/ Re2.
 In future, mixed convection related problems will be more challenging.
 Lid-driven cavities is one of the most widely studied problems in thermo-
fluid studies.
 Lid-driven enclosures are used in many engineering applications.such as:
food processing, lubricating technologies, electronic cooling, crystal
growth,float glass production,dynamics of lakes.
 Heat transfer characteristics will be enhanced by using nanofluids.
Title Layout
Subtitle
 Objectives
• To develop a generalized mathematical model for mixed convection in a
lid-driven square cavity partially heated and filled with nanofluid .

• To derive the non-dimensional governing equations for the mathematical

model and to co-relate the boundary conditions with the problem.

• To solve the governing equations and boundary conditions using Finite

Element Method.

• To study the effect of Nano fluid(Cu-water), Solid volume fraction,

Speed ratios, Richardson number on the flow and thermal field.

• To Plot streamline and isotherm contours with varying Richardson

number.

• To Plot Nu with varying speed ratio.

• To Compare our present Work with the Result of Ridha Jmai.

 Physical Model
Tc
Ut=U0
Adiabatic

B=H/3 TH g TH B=H/3

NanoFluids
y H/2 H/2

Ub=λU0 Tc
x
H=Cavity height U0=Dimensionless velocity of the upper lid
g= Gravitational acceleration Ub=Dimensionless velocity of the bottom wall
U
Working Fluid : Cu-Water nanofluid λ= walls velocity ratio= b (-2≤ λ ≤ 2)
U𝑡
Φ= solid volume Fraction= 0≤ Φ ≤.1
B= Dimensionless length of heat source
Ri= Richardson number = .01≤ 𝑅𝑖 ≤ 100

U,V=Dimensionless Velocity Components

T=Temperature,K
Cp = Specific heat, Jkg-1K-1
Gr=Grashof Number
Pr=prandlt Number
Re=Reynolds Number
q= heat flux per unit area,W/m2
Ra=Rayleigh Number
Subscripts:
f=pure fluid
nf= nanofluid
 Governing Equations
Mathematical Model:
Continuity Equation:
𝜕𝑢 𝜕𝑣
+ 𝜕𝑦 = 0
𝜕𝑥
X-momentum Equation:
𝜕𝑢 𝜕𝑢 𝜕𝑝 𝜕2 𝑢 𝜕2 𝑢
𝜌𝑛𝑓(𝑢 𝜕𝑥 +𝑣 ) =- + 𝜇𝑛𝑓 (𝜕𝑥 2 + )
𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 2

Y-momentum Equation:
𝜕𝑣 𝜕𝑣 𝜕𝑝 𝜕2 𝑣 𝜕2 𝑣
𝜌𝑛𝑓(𝑢 +𝑣 ) =- + 𝜇𝑛𝑓 ( 2 + ) + 𝜌𝑛𝑓𝑔𝛽𝑛𝑓(𝑇 − 𝑇𝑐)
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 2
Energy Equation:
𝜕𝑇 𝜕𝑇 𝜕2 𝑇 𝜕2 𝑇
(𝜌𝐶𝑝)nf (𝑢 𝜕𝑥 +𝑣 ) = knf (𝜕𝑥 2 + )
𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑦 2
 Governing Equations
Where,
𝜌𝑛𝑓 = 1 − Φ 𝜌𝑓 + Φ𝜌𝑝
𝜌𝛽 𝑛𝑓 = 1 − Φ 𝜌𝛽 𝑓 + Φ 𝜌𝛽 𝑝
𝜌𝐶𝑝 𝑛𝑓 = 1 − Φ 𝜌𝐶𝑝 𝑓 + Φ 𝜌𝐶𝑝 𝑝
𝑘 +2𝑘𝑓 −2Φ(𝑘𝑓−𝑘𝑝)
knf=kf 𝑝
𝑘𝑝+2𝑘𝑓 +Φ(𝑘𝑓−𝑘𝑝)
𝜇𝑛𝑓 = 𝜇𝑓 (1 − Φ)−2.5

Non-Dimensional Coordinate:
𝑥 𝑦 𝑢 𝑣 𝑝 𝑇−𝑇𝑐
X= ,Y= ,U= ,V = ,P= ,𝜃 =
𝐿 𝐿 𝑈0 𝑈0 𝜌𝑛𝑓 𝑈02 𝑇𝐻−𝑇𝑐
 Non-dimensional Equations
Continuity Equation:
𝜕𝑈 𝜕𝑉
+ 𝜕𝑌 = 0
𝜕𝑋
X-momentum Equation:
𝜕𝑈 𝜕𝑈 𝜕𝑃 1 𝜇𝑛𝑓 𝜕2 𝑈 𝜕2 𝑈
𝜌𝑛𝑓(𝑈 +𝑉 )= - + ( + )
𝜕𝑋 𝜕𝑌 𝜕𝑋 𝑅𝑒 𝜗𝑓𝜌𝑛𝑓 𝜕𝑋 2 𝜕𝑌 2

Y-momentum Equation:
𝜕𝑉 𝜕𝑉 𝜕𝑃 1 𝜇𝑛𝑓 𝜕2 𝑉 𝜕2 𝑉 𝜌𝛽 𝑛𝑓
𝜌𝑛𝑓(𝑈 𝜕𝑋 +𝑉 ) =- + ( + )+ Ri𝜃
𝜕𝑌 𝜕𝑋 𝑅𝑒 𝜗𝑓𝜌𝑛𝑓 𝜕𝑋 2 𝜕𝑌 2 𝜌𝑛𝑓𝛽𝑓

Energy Equation:
𝜕𝜃 𝜕𝜃 𝛼𝑛𝑓 1 𝜕2 𝜃 𝜕2 𝜃
(𝑈 𝜕𝑋 +𝑉 𝜕𝑌
) = (
𝛼𝑓 𝑅𝑒𝑃𝑟 𝜕𝑋 2
+ 𝜕𝑌 2
)
 Non-dimensional Equations
The non-dimensional governing parameters can be expressed
as,

𝑈0𝐻 𝜗𝑓 𝑔𝛽𝑓 𝑇𝐻−𝑇𝑐 𝐻 𝐺𝑟

Re = ,Pr = , Ri = , Ri = ,
𝜗𝑓 𝛼𝑓 𝑈02 𝑅𝑒 2
𝑅𝑎 𝑔𝛽𝑓(𝑇𝐻−𝑇𝐶)𝐻 3 𝑅𝑎
Gr = = , Ri =
𝑃𝑟 𝜗𝑓 2 Pr 𝑅𝑒 2

We have used ,
Pr =6.2
Ra = 104
 Boundary conditions
The boundary conditions for
the governing equations are:
Top wall
U=Ut=U0 , V = 0 and 𝜃 = 0
Bottom wall
U=Ub=λU0 , V=0 and 𝜃 = 0

1 B 1 B
𝜃 = 1 for X=0,1 and ( − )≤ 𝑌 ≤ +
2 2 2 2
𝜕θ
= 0 for X = 0,1 and 0 ≤ 𝑌
𝜕X
1 𝐵 1 𝐵
≤ − , + ≤𝑌≤1
2 2 2 2
 Mathematical Formulation
𝑘𝑛𝑓 𝜕𝜃
Local Nusselt Number along the heat sources: Nu= - 𝑘𝑓 𝜕𝑋
The average Nusselt number is obtained by integrating the local
Nusselt Number along the heat sources and is defined by
1 𝐵
1 2+ 2
Nuavg = ‫)𝑌(𝑢𝑁 ׬‬
𝐵 1−𝐵
𝑑𝑌
2 2
 Numerical Procedure

 The numerical simulation is carried out by using finite element

method. The numerical scheme solves the discretized governing
equations sequentially.

 The sequence updates the velocity field through the solution of the
momentum equations using known values for pressure and velocity.

 Next, it solves an energy equation using the values obtained from

Navier-Stokes equation.

 We used triangular elements for the development of the finite element

equations.
 Grid Sensitivity Test

31
Here For mesh number of
30.5

30000 elements Nuavg is 30

almost independent of 29.5

Nuavg
mesh number. But we 29

28.5
have used mesh number
28
of 2344 elements so that
27.5
we can save time as for 27
0 10000 20000 30000 40000
Number of elements
30000 elements it takes
many times.
Fig. 2. Average Nusselt number for different number of elements
 Result & discussion
Results are mainly based on
The influences of the Richardson number (Ri) on the flow and
heat transfer characteristics such as the streamlines, isotherms
and the average Nusselt number.
 The influences of Volume fraction of the nanoparticles (φ) on
the flow and heat transfer characteristics such as the
streamlines, isotherms and the average Nusselt number.
The influences of the walls speed ratios (λ) on the flow and
heat transfer characteristics such as the streamlines, isotherms
and the average Nusselt number.
 The influences of the location of the heat source ( right side or
left side) on the flow and heat transfer characteristics such as
the streamlines, isotherms and the average Nusselt number.
Previous work
Present work
Results & Discussions

Ri=.01 Ri=1 Ri=100

Fig 3: Streamline for λ=.5
Previous work
Present work
Results & Discussions

Ri=.01 Ri=1 Ri=100

Fig 4: Isotherms for λ=.5
Previous work
Present work
Results & Discussions

Ri=.01 Ri=1 Ri=100

Fig 5: Isotherms for λ=-.5
Previous work
Present work
Results & Discussions

Ri=.01 Ri=1 Ri=100

Fig 6: Streamline for λ=-.5
Previous work
Present work
Results & Discussions

Ri=.01 Ri=1 Ri=100

Fig 7: Isotherms for λ=1
Previous work
Present work
Results & Discussions

Ri=.01 Ri=1 Ri=100

Fig 8: Streamline for λ=1
Previous work
Present work
Results & Discussions

Ri=.01 Ri=1 Ri=100

Fig 9: Isotherms for λ=1
Previous work
Present work
Results & Discussions

Ri=.01 Ri=1 Ri=100

Fig 10: Isotherms for λ=-1
Previous work
Present work
Results & Discussions

Ri=.01 Ri=1 Ri=100

Fig 11: Streamline for λ=-1
Previous work
Present work
Results & Discussions

Ri=.01 Ri=1 Ri=100

Fig 12: Isotherms for λ=2
Previous work
Present work
Results & Discussions

Ri=.01 Ri=1 Ri=100

Fig 13: Streamline for λ=2
Previous work
Present work
Results & Discussions

Ri=.01 Ri=1 Ri=100

Fig 14: Streamline for λ=-2
Previous work
Present work
Results & Discussions

Ri=.01 Ri=1 Ri=100

Fig 15: Isotherms for λ=-2
 RESULTS & DISCUSSIONS

Fig 16: Variation of average Nu with different walls speed ratio at Ri=.01
 RESULTS & DISCUSSIONS

avg

Fig 17: Variation of average Nu with different walls speed ratio at Ri=1
 Results & Discussions

Fig 18: Variation of average Nu with different walls speed ratio at Ri=100
 Results & Discussions
(Jmai et al.)
30 (Present work)
(Jmai et al.)
(Present work)
25 (Jmai et al.)
(Present work)
(Jmai et al.)
20 (Present work)
(Jmai et al.)
(Present work)
15 (Jmai et al.)
NuL (Present work)

10

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2
10 10 10 10 10 10
Ri

Fig 19: Variation of average Nu with different different Ri at left source,λ=.5

 Results & Discussions
(Jmai et al.)
(Jmai et al.)
40
(Present work)
35 (Jmai et al.)
(Present work)
30 (Present work)
(Jmai et al.)
25 (Jmai et al.)
(Jmai et al.)
20 (Present work)
(Present work)
(Present work)
15
NuL

10

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2
10 10 10 10 10 10
Ri

Fig 20: Variation of average Nu with different different Ri at left source,λ=1

 Results & Discussions
(Jmai et al.)
(Jmai et al.)
50
(Present work)
45
(Jmai et al.)
40 (Jmai et al.)
35 (Jmai et al.)
(Jmai et al.)
30 (Present work)
(Present work)
25
(Present work)
(Present work)
20 (Present work])
NuL
15

10

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2
10 10 10 10 10 10
Ri

Fig 21: Variation of average Nu with different different Ri at left source,λ=2

 Conclusions
 The problem of steady mixed convection flow and heat transfer
in a square enclosure filled with nanofluid(Cu-water) has been
studied.
 It was noticed from the numerical simulations that lower the
values of Richardson number give better heat transfer .
 Heat transfer rate increases with the increase of wall’s speed
ratio(λ).
 Heat transfer rate increases with the increase of nano particles
volume fraction(Φ).
 Result would be more concurrent with the result of Ridha Jmai
et al if we would have use mesh with more elements.
Thank you….