Three-dimensional computation of turbulent natural convection in the presence of magnetic field

Abstract

Numerical three-dimensional study is carried out on the turbulent natural convection of molten sodium (low Prandtl number fluid) in a cubic cavity heated from one vertical wall and cooled from an opposing vertical wall, with the other walls thermally insulated. The cavity is exposed to external uniform magnetic fields, either horizontal and perpendicular, to the heated wall (x-direction) or in vertical and parallel direction to the heated wall (y-direction) or in horizontal and parallel directions to the heated wall (z-direction). The magnetic field in the horizontal and perpendicular direction gave the smallest value of the average Nusselt number on the vertical heated wall and in the vertical and parallel direction the largest value. On the other hand, the external magnetic field in horizontal and parallel direction was found to be effective in between these two extremes. The effect of magnetic field on Nusselt number three-dimensional laminar flow is greater than that for two-dimensional laminar flow at same value of magnetic field intensity.