International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 96 (2016) 513524

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International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijhmt

MHD free convection of Al2O3water nanofluid considering thermal

radiation: A numerical study
M. Sheikholeslami a, T. Hayat b,c,, A. Alsaedi c
a

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Babol University of Technology, Babol, Islamic Republic of Iran
Department of Mathematics, Quaid-I-Azam University 45320, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
c
Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80257, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
b

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 11 January 2016
Received in revised form 24 January 2016
Accepted 26 January 2016

Keywords:
Thermal radiation
Nanofluid
MHD
CVFEM
Viscous dissipation
Brownian motion
Heat flux

a b s t r a c t
This article explores the effect of thermal radiation on Al2O3water nanofluid flow and heat transfer in an
enclosure with a constant flux heating element. KKL (KooKleinstreuerLi) correlation is used for simulating effective thermal conductivity and viscosity of nanofluid. The governing equations are solved via
control volume based finite element method. The effects of Rayleigh number, Hartman number, viscous
dissipation parameter, radiation parameter and volume fraction of nanoparticle on the flow and heat
transfer characteristics have been examined. Results show that enhancement in heat transfer has direct
relationship with Hartman number, viscous dissipation parameter and radiation parameter but it has
reverse relationship for Rayleigh number. It is also observed that Nusselt number is an increasing function of Rayleigh number, volume fraction of nanoparticle and radiation parameter while it is a decreasing
function of viscous dissipation parameter and Hartman number.
2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1. Introduction
Study of free convection heat transfer in partitioned enclosures
has received significant attention in the recent years due to its useful engineering applications such as solar collectors, thermal insulation, cooling of electronic components and designing building. It
is well known that the effect of thermal radiation is important in
space technology and high temperature processes. Thermal radiation also plays an important role in controlling heat transfer process in polymer processing industry. The effect of radiation on
heat transfer problems have been studied by Hossain and Takhar
[1]. Zahmatkesh [2] found that the presence of thermal radiation
makes temperature distribution nearly uniform in the vertical sections inside the enclosure and it causes the streamlines to be
nearly parallel with the vertical walls. Pal and Mondal [3] have
investigated radiation effects on combined convection over a vertical flat plate embedded in a porous medium of variable porosity.
Hayat et al. [4] described the heat transfer analysis with thermal
radiation on the two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic flow in
a channel with porous walls. Thermal radiation effects on MHD
forced convection flow adjacent to a non-isothermal wedge were
Corresponding author at: Department of Mathematics, Quaid-I-Azam University 45320, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan.
E-mail address: fmgpak@gmail.com (T. Hayat).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2016.01.059
0017-9310/ 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

investigated by Chamkha et al. [5]. They showed that local Nusselt

number was predicted to decrease as the thermal radiation parameter was increased. Mixed convection boundary layer magnetohydrodynamic stagnation-point flow through a porous medium
bounded by a stretching vertical plate with thermal radiation
was studied by Hayat et al. [6]. They found that the values of skin
friction coefficient and the local Nusselt number are tabulated in
both cases of assisting and opposing flows.
Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) was initially applied to astrophysical and geophysical problems. In recent years this subject
has attracted more attention due to its various applications in agricultural engineering and petroleum industries. Rudraiah et al. [7]
investigated numerically the magnetic field effect on natural
convection in a rectangular enclosure. They found that the magnetic field decreases the rate of heat transfer. Hayat et al. [8] investigated the heat and mass transfer in magnetohydrodynamic
two-dimensional flow over a stretching sheet with Joule heating
and thermophoresis. Free convection heat transfer in concentric
annulus between a cold square and heated elliptic cylinders under
the influence of magnetic field was investigated by Sheikholeslami
et al. [9]. They found that the enhancement in heat transfer is
possible when Hartman number increases. However heat transfer
decreases with increase of Rayleigh number. Rashidi et al. [10]
studied the effects of magnetic interaction number, slip factor
and relative temperature difference on the velocity and

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Nomenclature
B
Cp
Gr f
Ha
Nu
Pr
T
u; v
U; V
x; y
X; Y
r
k
L
!
g
qr
q00
Ra
Rd

magnetic field
specific heat at constant pressure
Grashof number
q
Hartmann number LBx rf =lf
Nusselt number
Prandtl number tf =af
fluid temperature
velocity components in the x and y directions
dimensionless velocity components in the X and Y
directions
space coordinates
dimensionless space coordinates
non-dimensional radial distance
thermal conductivity
length of outer enclosure
gravitational acceleration
radiation heat flux
heat flux
Rayleigh number gbf q00 L4 =k af tf
Radiation parameter 4re T 3c =bR k

hM

r
re
bR

a
/

l
t

w&W

q
b

angle of magnetic field

electrical conductivity
StefanBoltzmann constant
mean absorption coefficient
thermal diffusivity
volume fraction
dynamic viscosity
kinematic viscosity
stream function & dimensionless stream function
dimensionless temperature
fluid density
thermal expansion coefficient

Subscripts
c
cold
h
hot
loc
local
average
av e
nf
nanofluid
f
base fluid
s
solid particles

Greek symbols
e
viscous dissipation parameter al=qC p q00 L=kf
x; X
vorticity & dimensionless vorticity

temperature profiles for entropy generation in magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow of fluid with variable properties over a rotating
disk.
Practically, convective flow and heat transfer are affected by
nanofluid properties such as viscosity and thermal conductivity.
Conventional heat transfer fluids, including oil, water, and ethylene
glycol mixture are poor heat transfer fluids, since the thermal conductivity of these fluids plays an important role on the heat transfer coefficient between the heat transfer medium and the heat
transfer surface. An innovative technique for improving heat transfer by using ultra-fine solid particles in the fluids has been used
extensively during the last decade (see recent studies [1116]
and several refs. therein). The term nanofluid introduced by Choi

(a)

[17] refers to these kinds of fluids by suspending nano-scale particles in the base fluid. Khanafer et al. [18] seem to be the first who
have examined heat transfer performance of nanofluids inside an
enclosure taking into account the solid particle dispersion. Sheikholeslami et al. [19] used heatline analysis to simulate two phase
simulation of nanofluid flow and heat transfer. Their results indicated that the average Nusselt number decreases as buoyancy ratio
number increases until it reaches a minimum value and then starts
increasing. Rashidi et al. [20] considered the analysis of the second
law of thermodynamics applied to an electrically conducting
incompressible nanofluid fluid flowing by a porous rotating disk.
They concluded that using magnetic rotating disk drives has
important applications in heat transfer enhancement in renewable

(b)

Fig. 1. (a) Geometry and the boundary conditions; (b) A sample triangular element and its corresponding control volume.

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M. Sheikholeslami et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 96 (2016) 513524
Table 1
The coefficient values of Al2O3Water nanofluid [43].
Coefficient values

Al2 O3Water

a1
a2
a3
a4
a5
a6
a7
a8
a9
a10

52.813488759
6.115637295
0.6955745084
4.17455552786E02
0.176919300241
298.19819084
34.532716906
3.9225289283
0.2354329626
0.999063481

Table 4
Average Nusselt number versus at different Grashof number under various strengths
of the magnetic field at Pr = 0.733.

energy systems. Ellahi [21] studied the MHD flow of nonNewtonian nanofluid in a pipe. He observed that the MHD parameter decreases the fluid motion and the velocity profile is larger
than that of temperature profile even in the presence of variable
viscosities. MHD effect on natural convection heat transfer in an
inclined L-shape enclosure filled with nanofluid was studied by
Sheikholeslami et al. [22]. They found that enhancement in heat
transfer has reverse relationship with Hartman number and
Rayleigh number.

Gr 2  105

Ha

Gr 2  104
Present

Rudraiah et al. [8]

Present

Rudraiah et al. [8]

0
10
50
100

2.5665
2.26626
1.09954
1.02218

2.5188
2.2234
1.0856
1.011

5.093205
4.9047
2.67911
1.46048

4.9198
4.8053
2.8442
1.4317

Control volume based finite element method (CVFEM) is a

scheme that uses the advantages of both finite volume and finite
element methods for simulation of multi-physics problems in complex geometries [2325]. Sheikholeslami et al. [26] studied the
problem of natural convection between a circular enclosure and
a sinusoidal cylinder. They concluded that streamlines, isotherms,
and the number, size and formation of the cells inside the enclosure strongly depend on the Rayleigh number, values of amplitude
and the number of undulations of the enclosure. MHD effect on
natural convection heat transfer in an enclosure filled with
nanofluid was studied by Sheikholeslami et al. [27]. Their results
indicated that Nusselt number is an increasing function of

Table 2
Thermo physical properties of water and nanoparticles [43].

Pure water
Al2 O3

q kg=m3

C p j=kg k

k (W/m k)

b  105 K1

dp (nm)

r X  m1

997.1
3970

4179
765

0.613
25

21
0.85

47

1  1010

Table 3
Comparison of the average Nusselt number Nuav e for different grid resolution at Ra 105 , / 0:04,
Mesh size
Nuav e

81  81
5.9861

91  91
5.9883

(a)

0.05

e 0:03, Ha 100; Rd 2 and Pr 6:2.

101  101
5.9898

111  111
5.9907

121  121
5.9914

(b)

Fig. 2. (a) Comparison of the temperature on axial midline between the present results and numerical results by Sharif et al. [45]; (b) Comparison of average Nusselt number
between the present results and numerical results by Khanafer et al. [19] Gr 104 , / 0:1 and Pr 6:2CuWater.

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M. Sheikholeslami et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 96 (2016) 513524

Fig. 3. Effects of radiation parameter, viscous dissipation parameter, Hartman number of on isotherms (left) and streamlines (right) when / 0:04; Ra 103 .

M. Sheikholeslami et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 96 (2016) 513524

Rd = 0

Rd = 2

Fig. 4. Effects of radiation parameter, viscous dissipation parameter, Hartman number of on isotherms (left) and streamlines (right) when / 0:04; Ra 104 .

517

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M. Sheikholeslami et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 96 (2016) 513524

Fig. 5. Effects of radiation parameter, viscous dissipation parameter, Hartman number on isotherms (left) and streamlines (right) when / 0:04; Ra 105 .

M. Sheikholeslami et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 96 (2016) 513524

(a) Ra = 10 , Rd = 1

(b) Ra = 10 , = 0.01

(c) = 0, Rd = 1

(d) = 0.01, Rd = 0

519

Fig. 6. Effects of radiation parameter, viscous dissipation parameter, Hartman number and Rayleigh number on average Nusselt number when / 0:04; Pr 6:2.

buoyancy ratio number but it is a decreasing function of Lewis

number and Hartman number. Sheikholeslami et al. [28] performed a numerical analysis for natural convection heat transfer
of Cuwater nanofluid in a cold outer circular enclosure containing
a hot inner sinusoidal circular cylinder in presence of horizontal
magnetic field using the Control Volume based Finite Element
Method. They concluded that in absence of magnetic field,
enhancement ratio decreases as Rayleigh number increases while
an opposite trend is observed in the presence of magnetic field.
Also they found that the average Nusselt number is an increasing
function of nanoparticle volume fraction, the number of undulations and Rayleigh numbers while it is a decreasing function of
Hartman number. Effect of double stratification in timedependent flow of viscous nanofluid is examined by Hayat et al.
[29]. In another article Hayat et al. [30] studied the radiative
MHD three dimensional flow of couple stress nanofluid by a
stretching sheet. Slip effect in MHD flow of viscous nanofluid has
been explored for the development of exact solutions in ref. [31].
Dhani et al. [32] addressed the MHD mixed convection slip flow
and heat transfer by an inclined cylinder. Bhattacharyya and Layek

[33] considered MHD flow of viscous nanofluid by an exponentially

stretching sheet. Effects of heat and mass transfer in MHD flow of
viscous nanofluid along a vertical stretching sheet with thermal
radiation and chemical reaction are analyzed by Haile and Shankar
[34]. Wahiduzzaman et al. [35] explored viscous dissipation and
thermal radiation in MHD flow of nanofluid due to rotating surface.
Natural convection flow of viscous nanofluid in presence of uniform applied magnetic field is discussed by Hamad [36]. Hakeem
et al. [37] examined second order slip and magnetic field effects
in flow over a stretching/shrinking surface. Mabood et al. [38]
numerically studied the MHD boundary layer flow over a nonlinear
stretching surface.
The main objective of present study is to examine the effect of
viscous dissipation and thermal radiation on MHD nanofluid flow
and heat transfer in an enclosure with constant heat flux element.
Note that the consideration of nanofluid subject to magnetohydrodynamics is significant in optical gratings, optical modulators,
magneto-optical wavelength filters etc. Magnetic particles are useful in construction of loud speakers as sealing materials, in sink
float separation, drug delivery, hyperthermia, cancer therapy, con-

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M. Sheikholeslami et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 96 (2016) 513524

(b) Ra = 10 , = 0.03

(a) Ra = 10 , = 0.0
5

(c) = 0.005, Rd = 1
Fig. 7. Effects of radiation parameter, viscous dissipation parameter, Hartman number and Rayleigh number on ratio of enhancement when Pr 6:2.

strast enhancement in magnetic resonance imaging, magnetic cell

separation and many other processes. CVFEM is used to simulate
the governing problem. The effective thermal conductivity and viscosity of nanofluid are calculated by KKL (KooKleinstreuerLi)
correlation. Effects of Rayleigh number, Hartman number, viscous
dissipation parameter, radiation parameter and volume fraction
of nanoparticle on the flow and heat transfer characteristics have
been examined.

q
B2x B2y is applied, where e~x and e~y are unit vectors in the

Cartesian coordinate system. The orientation of the magnetic field

form an angle hM with horizontal axis such that hM cot1 Bx =By .
The electric current J and the electromagnetic force F are defined
V ~
B and F r~
V ~
B  ~
B, respectively.
by J r~
3. Mathematical modeling and numerical procedure
3.1. Problem formulation

2. Geometry definition and boundary conditions

The numerical model consists in a two-dimensional square cavity with side equal to L which represents the characteristic dimension of the problem (see Fig. 1(a)). The heat source is centrally
located on the bottom surface and its length L/3. The cooling is
achieved by the two vertical walls. The heat source has constant
heat flux q00 while the cooling walls have a constant temperature
T c ; all the other surfaces are adiabatic. Also it is also assumed that
the uniform magnetic field (~
B Bx e~x By e~y ) of constant magnitude

The flow is steady, two-dimensional, laminar and incompressible. The induced electric current and Joule heating are neglected.
The magnetic Reynolds number is assumed small so that the
induced magnetic field can be neglected. The Rosseland approximation is used to describe the radiative heat flux in the energy
equation. The radiative heat flux in the x-direction is considered
negligible in comparison to the y-direction. Neglecting displacement currents, induced magnetic field, and using the Boussinesq
approximation, the governing equations of heat transfer and fluid
flow for nanofluid can be obtained as follows:

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M. Sheikholeslami et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 96 (2016) 513524

@u @ v

0
@x @y

!
@u
@u
1 @P
@2u @2u

v

t
u
@x
@y
qnf @x nf @x2 @y2


rnf B2 
v sin hM cos hM  u sin2 hM
qnf

@v
@v
1 @P
@2v @2v
tnf

v

u
@x
@y
qnf @y
@x2 @y2

!
bnf gT  T c

@T
@T
@2T @2T

v
anf
u
@x
@y
@x2 @y2

Rf

lnf
1
@qr
u2 v 2


qC p nf @y qC p nf
4

where the radiation heat flux qr is considered according to

Rosseland approximation such that qr  43brRe

Rf 4  108 km =W the original kp in Eq. (9) was replaced by a

new kp;eff in the form:
2

rnf B2

u sin hM cos hM  v cos2 hM

qnf
!

Recently, there has been an increasing trend to emphasize the

importance of interfacial thermal resistance between nanoparticles
and based fluids. The thermal interfacial resistance (Kapitza resistance) is believed to exist in the adjacent layers of the two different
materials; the thin barrier layer plays a key role in weakening the
effective thermal conductivity of nanoparticle.
Li [43] revisited the model of Koo and Kleinstreuer [44] and
combined b and f functions to develop a new g 0 function which
captures the influences of particle diameter, temperature and volume fraction. The empirical g 0 -function depends on the type of
nanofluid [44]. Also, by introducing a thermal interfacial resistance

@T 4
@y

where

re ; bR are

dp
dp

kp kp;eff

For different based fluids and different nanoparticles, the function should be different. Only water based nanofluids are considered in the current study. For Al2O3water nanofluids, this
function follows the format:

g 0 T; /; dp a1 a2 ln dp a3 ln / a4 ln / ln dp
2

a5 ln dp ln T a6 a7 ln dp a8 ln /

the StefanBoltzmann constant and the mean absorption

coefficient, respectively. Following Raptis [3941], the fluid-phase
temperature differences within the flow are assumed to be
sufficiently small so that T 4 may be expressed as a linear function
of temperature. This is done by expanding T 4 in a Taylor series
about the temperature T c and neglecting higher order terms to
yield, T 4 4T 3c T  3T 4c .
The effective density (qnf ), the thermal expansion coefficient
(bnf )and heat capacitance qC p nf of the nanofluid are defined as
[18]:

qnf qf 1  / qs /
bnf bf 1  / bs /

qC p nf qC p f 1  / qC p s /

10

a9 ln / lndp a10 ln dp

11

with the coefficients ai (i = 0..10) are based on the type of nanopartices, Al2O3water nanofluids has an R2 of 96% and 98%, respectively [32] (Table1). Finally, the KKL (KooKleinstreuerLi)
correlation is written as:

kBrownian 5  104 /qf cp;f

s
jb T 0
g T; /; dp
qp dp

12

Koo and Kleinstreuer [27] further investigated laminar nanofluid flow in micro heat-sinks using the effective nanofluid thermal
conductivity model they had established. For the effective viscosity
due to micro mixing in suspensions, they proposed:

kBrownian lf

kf
Prf

Also effective electrical conductivity of nanofluid presented by

Maxwell [28] is:

leff lstatic lBrownian lstatic

rnf
3rs =rf  1/
1
rf
rs =rf 2  rs =rf  1/

where lstatic 1/f 2:5 is viscosity of the nanofluid, as given originally

The Brownian motion has a significant impact on the effective

thermal conductivity. Koo and Kleinstreuer [42] proposed that the
effective thermal conductivity is composed of the particles
conventional static part and a Brownian motion part. This
2-component thermal conductivity model takes into account the
effects of particle size, particle volume fraction and temperature
dependence as well as types of particle and base fluid combinations.

keff kstatic kBrownian

3kp =kf  1/
kstatic
1
kf
kp =kf 2  kp =kf  1/

where, kstatic is the static thermal conductivity based on Maxwell

classical correlation. The enhanced thermal conductivity component generated by micro-scale convective heat transfer of a particles Brownian motion and affected by ambient fluid motion is
obtained via simulating Stokes flow around a sphere (nanoparticle). By introducing two empirical functions (b and f ) Koo
[42] combined the interaction between nanoparticles in addition
to the temperature effect in the model, leading to:

kBrownian

s
jb T
4
f T; /
5  10 b/qf cp;f
qp dp

13

by Brinkman.
The stream function and vorticity are defined as:

@w
;
@y

v

@w
@ v @u
; x

@x
@x @y

14

The stream function satisfies the continuity Eq. (1). The vorticity
equation is obtained by eliminating the pressure between the two
momentum equations, i.e. by taking y-derivative of Eq. (2) and subtracting from it the x-derivative of Eq. (3). This gives:

!
 
@w @ x @w @ x
@2x @2x
@T
bnf g


tnf
2
2
@y @x @x @y
@x
@x
@y
2
rnf B
dv
du
2

sin hM

sin hM cos hM
dy
qnf
dy

du
dv
sin hM cos hM 
cos2 hM

dx
dx
@w @T @w @T
@2T @2T


anf
@y @x @x @y
@x2 @y2
 u2 v 2
@2w @2w

x
@x2 @y2

!


15

lnf
1
@qr

qC p nf @y qC p nf
16
17

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M. Sheikholeslami et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 96 (2016) 513524

By introducing the following non-dimensional variables:

x
y
xL
w
T  Tc
uL
vL
X ; Y ; X
; W ; H 00
; U ; V
L
L
af
af
q L=kf
af
af
2

18
the equations now become:

@W @X @W @X

Prf
@Y @X @X @Y

lnf qf kf qC p nf
lf qnf knf qC p f

@2X

!
@2X

@X
@Y 2
 
bnf @ H
rnf qf
Ha2 Prf
Raf Prf
bf @X
rf qnf


dV
dU
dU
dV
 tanhM tan2 hM
tanhM 
dY
dY
dX
dX

@ W @ H @ W @ H knf qC p f


@Y @X @X @Y
kf qC p nf

19

@X 2

@ W
2

@X 2

@ W
2

@Y 2

20

grid

X

21

where Raf gbf L q =kf af tf is the Rayleigh number for the base
q
fluid, Ha HBx rf =lf is the Hartman number and Prf tf =af is
the Prandtl number for the base fluid. Also Rd 4re T 3c =bR k and
e al=qC p q00 L=kf are radiation parameter and viscous dissipation
parameter, respectively. The thermo physical properties of nanofluid are given in Table2 [43]. The boundary conditions as shown
in Fig. 1 are:

@ H=@n 1:0 on the heat source

H 0:0
on the left and right
@ H=@n 0:0

on all the other adiabatic surfaces

W 0:0

on all solid boundaries

22

 
 1 ! 
knf
knf
4
1
1 Rd


3
h
kf
kf

23
L=3<X<2L=3;Y0

The average Nusselt number on hot circular wall is evaluated

as:

1
L=3

2L=3

Nuloc X dX

24

L=3

To estimate the enhancement of heat transfer between the case

of / 0:04 and the pure fluid (base fluid) case, the enhancement is
defined as:

Nu/ 0:04  Nubase fluid

 100
Nubase fluid

26

where s is the iteration number and C stands for the independent

variables (X; W; H). The average Nusselt number using different Gr
and Ha numbers have been compared with those obtained by
Rudraiah et al. [7] as shown in Table 4. Fig. 2(a) illustrates the comparison between the calculated average Nusselt number on the bottom wall with constant heat flux and the numerical results of Sharif
et al. [34] for cavity inclination angle equals to zero, dimensionless
length of the heat source 0:6 and different Grashof numbers. In
Fig. 2(b), the present computation is also validated against the
results of Khanafer et al. [18] carried for natural convection in an
enclosure filled with Cuwater nanofluid for different Grashof numbers. These comparisons illustrate an excellent agreement between
the present calculations and the previous works.
5. Results and discussion

The values of vorticity on the boundary of enclosure can be

obtained using the stream function formulation and the known
velocity conditions during the iterative solution procedure. The
local Nusselt number of the nanofluid along the heat source can
be expressed as:

Nuav e

tions were explored for the case of Ra 105 , / 0:04, e 0:03,

Ha 100; Rd 2 and Pr 6:2 as shown in Table 3. The present code
was tested for grid independence by calculating the average Nusselt
number on the outer circular wall. In harmony with this, it is found
that a grid size of 101  101 ensures a grid-independent solution.
The convergence criterion for the termination of all computations is:

maxjCs1  Cs j 6 107

4 00

Nulocal

4. Grid testing and code validation

To guarantee the grid-independency of the present solution a
mesh testing procedure was conducted. Different mesh combina-

!
@2H

 1 ! 2
knf qC p f
knf
4
@ H
Rd
kf qC p nf 3
kf
@Y 2
 
knf qC p f lnf 2
e
u v 2
kf qC p nf lf

and the values of variables are approximated with linear interpolation within the elements. The control volumes are created by joining the center of each element in the support to the mid points of
the element sides that pass through the central node i which creates a close polygonal control volume (see Fig. 1(b)). The set of governing equations is integrated over the control volume with the
use of linear interpolation inside the finite element and the
obtained algebraic equations are solved by the GaussSeidel
Method. A FORTRAN code is developed to solve the present problem using a structured mesh of linear triangular. The details of this
method are mentioned in [27].

25

3.2. Numerical procedure

A control volume finite element method is used in this work.
The building block of the discretization is the triangular element

In this study the effect of thermal radiation on the improvement

of magnetohydrodynamic free convective heat transfer in a square
cavity which is heated by a constant flux heating element at the
bottom surface is investigated. CVFEM was utilized to obtain the
numerical simulation. The enclosure is filled with Al2O3water
nanofluid. The effective thermal conductivity and viscosity of
nanofluid are calculated by KKL (KooKleinstreuerLi) correlation.
Effect of active parameters such as: Rayleigh number
(Ra 103 ; 104 and 105 ), Hartman number (Ha 0; 20; 60 and
100), viscous dissipation parameter (e 0 to 0.03), radiation
parameter (Rd 0; 1 and 2) and volume fraction of nanoparticle
(/ 0 and 0.04) on flow and heat transfer are examined when
Pr 6:2.
Effects of radiation parameter, viscous dissipation parameter,
Hartman number and Rayleigh number on isotherms and streamlines are depicted in Figs. 35. It is evident from these Figs. that the
flow circulation enhances as the radiation parameter increases.
Moreover, the streamlines begin to take the enclosure geometry.
Also it can be seen that isotherms move upward. As viscous dissipation parameter increases, wmax increases and isotherms move
away from bottom heater. By increasing Rayleigh number the
prominent heat transfer mechanism is turned from conduction to
convection. When the magnetic field is imposed on the enclosure,
the velocity field suppressed owing to the retarding effect of the

M. Sheikholeslami et al. / International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 96 (2016) 513524

Lorenz force. Thus intensity of convection weakens significantly.

The braking effect of magnetic field is observed from the maximum
stream function value. The core vortex is shift downward vertically
as the Hartman number increases. Also imposing magnetic field
leads to omit the thermal plume over the bottom wall. At high
Hartman number the conduction heat transfer mechanism is more
pronounced. For this reason the isotherms are parallel to each
other.
Effects of radiation parameter, viscous dissipation parameter,
Hartman number and Rayleigh number on average Nusselt number
are shown in Fig. 6. Increasing Hartman number causes Lorenz
force to increase and leads to a substantial suppression of the convection. So Nusselt number has reverse relationship with Hartman
number. Nusselt number increases with augment of Rayleigh number due to domination of convective heat transfer. As radiation
parameter increases the Nusselt number enhances but opposite
trend is observed for viscous dissipation parameter.
Fig. 7 shows the effects of radiation parameter, viscous dissipation parameter, Hartman number and Rayleigh number on ratio of
enhancement. Heat transfer enhancement increases for larger radiation parameter. This effect is more sensible for high magnetic
field. Increasing viscous dissipation parameter leads to augment
in ratio of enhancement especially in absence of magnetic field.
Heat transfer enhancement ratio has direct relationship with
Hartman number but it has reverse relationship with Rayleigh
number. This observation is due to domination of conduction heat
transfer in low Rayleigh number and high Hartman number.
Therefore the addition of high thermal conductivity nanoparticles
will increase the conduction and make the enhancement more
effective.

6. Conclusions
Thermal radiation effect on magnetohydrodynamic nanofluid
flow and heat transfer is studied numerically using Control Volume
based Finite Element Method. In many applications, especially for
cooling of electronic components, a natural convection configuration is encountered where a constant flux heating element at the
bottom surface are cooled from the isothermal sidewalls while
the top wall can be considered adiabatic. Having such in mind this
geometry is considered in this study. The model used for the nanofluid incorporates the effects of Brownian motion. The effects of
Rayleigh number, Hartman number, viscous dissipation parameter,
radiation parameter and volume fraction of nanoparticle on the
flow and heat transfer characteristics have been tested. Results
indicate that Nusselt number increases with augment of Rayleigh
number, volume fraction of nanoparticle and radiation parameter
while it decreases with increase of viscous dissipation parameter
and Hartman number. Also it can be concluded that enhancement
in heat transfer is an increasing function of Hartman number, viscous dissipation parameter and radiation parameter but it is a
decreasing function of Rayleigh number.

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