Magnetohydrodynamic Natural Convection of Water in an L-Shaped Container Filled With an Aluminum Metal Foam

Abstract

The current research employed computational simulation to assess magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) natural convection in an L-shaped container with a metal foam, which has a variety of engineering applications. The originality of this study is the use of numerical simulation combined with multi-objective optimization in terms of cooling rate enhancement and entropy generation reduction to investigate the optimal natural convection regimes. The influence of varied aspect ratios (AR), tilted angles of the container (θ), Hartmann number (Ha), and porosities (Φ) on the cooling rate with regard to the average Nusselt number (Nuave), Nusselt number enhancement (NNE), dimensionless surface temperature ([Ts]) and entropy generation (S) were evaluated. According to the findings of this study, little effect was found to be exerted by the MHD and θ on the Nuave, Ts, and S except for a porosity of 0.9. Furthermore, the Nuave and NNE enhance while the Ts and S reduce as the aspect ratio AR increases. In this case, the maximum increase in NNE was 8.78 times, with the greatest reductions in Ts and S as AR = 0.8, Φ = 0.1, θ = 0 deg, and Ha = 0 compared to the least favorable design. Thus, this optimum investigation of the CFD yields a novel approach and valuable recommendations for the optimum design of cooling in an L-shaped container.