Natural convection of non-Newtonian power-law fluid in a square cavity with a heat-generating element

Abstract

Development of modern technology in microelectronics and power engineering necessitates the creation of effective cooling systems. This is made possible by the use of the special fins technology within the cavity or special heat transfer liquids in order to intensify the heat removal from the heat-generating elements. The present work is devoted to the mathematical modeling of thermogravitational convection of a non-Newtonian fluid in a closed square cavity with a local source of internal volumetric heat generation. The behavior of the fluid is described by the Ostwald-de Waele power law model. The defining Navier–Stokes equations written using the dimensionless stream function, vorticity and temperature are solved using the finite difference method. The effects of the Rayleigh number, power-law index, and thermal conductivity ratio on heat transfer and the flow structure are studied. The obtained results are presented in the form of isolines of the stream function and temperature, as well as the dependences of the average Nusselt number and average temperature on the governing parameters.