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The paper attempts to enhance the control of convective transport phenomena in magnetothermal devices applying a technique of multibanded magnetic field. For this demonstration, a typical cavity-like thermal system is considered involving linear heating, porous substance, hybrid nanofluid, and magnetic field. Four identical bands of magnetic fields are applied horizontally with uniform inactive zones between the bands. The transport equations of the coupled multiphysics evolving from the thermal buoyancy (due to linear heating at one sidewall and isothermal cooling at the opposite sidewall), filled porous medium, spatially intermittently active magnetic fields, and the engineered working fluid of Cu–Al2O3/water hybrid nanofluid are solved by an indigenously developed computing code. The study is conducted using the pertinent dimensionless parameters for the following ranges: Darcy–Rayleigh number (Ram = 1–104), Darcy number (Da = 10−5 − 10−1), Hartmann number (Ha = 0–70), and concentration of hybrid nanoparticles ϕ (= 0–2%). The convective phenomena are analyzed using the heatlines (for heat transport), streamlines (flow pattern), isotherms (static temperature), and the average Nusselt number (for heat transfer). The outcomes of this technique of multibanded magnetic field are rigorously compared with other established application methods of magnetic fields. It establishes different local behaviors along with an improved heat transfer. Heatline visualization reveals the definite portraits of heat flow paths depending upon parametric values. Furthermore, the presence of linear heating is in particular treated to explore the insight of linear heating (that featuring multiple heating and cooling zones along with the linear heater), utilizing the local Nusselt number and heatlines. One of the important advantages of this new technique is it is more energy-efficient particularly for the square or shallow cavity. The multibanded magnetic field shows a promising technique for the control of convective transport phenomena involving coupled multiphysics used during sophisticated applications (such as materials processing, biomedical applications, etc.).

Purpose The study aims to assess the heater and cooler positional impacts systematically using four different quadrantal cavities filled with hybrid nanofluid, keeping the curved surface adiabatic under the orientated magnetic fields. Both heat transfer and entropy generation analyses are performed for a hybrid nanofluid flow in a quarter circular cavity considering different orientations of magnetic fields. The investigation is focused to assess the heater and cooler positional impacts systematically using four different quadrantal cavities (first to fourth quadrantal cavities), keeping the curved surface always adiabatic. The impacts of pertinent variables like Rayleigh number, Hartmann number and volumetric concentration of hybrid nanofluid on heat transfer characteristics are in consideration with the second law of thermodynamics. The analysis includes the thermal, viscous and magnetic aspects of entropy generation. Design/methodology/approach After validating against the experimental results, the present work explores numerically following the Galerkin weighted finite element technique. The solution is obtained through an iterative process satisfying the convergence limit of 10−8 and 10−10 for the maximum residuals and the mass defect, respectively. Findings It revealed that the mutual exchange of heater-cooler positions on the adjacent straight edges of the quadrant cavity does not have any impact on the flow direction. Although the magnitude of flow velocity enhances, the sidewall plays a decision-making role in the formation of a single circulation vortex. It also shows that thermal entropy production is the main cause behind thermodynamic irreversibility. The second or third quadrantal arrangement could have been opted as the best configuration of the heater-cooler position for achieving superior heat transfer. The Lorentz force plays a great role to moderate the heat transfer process. The maximum entropy generation is located, as expected, at the heating-cooling junction point. Research limitations/implications There are plenty of prospects for extension of the present research concept numerically or experimentally, adopting three-dimensional analysis, working fluids, boundary conditions, etc. In fact, the study could be carried out for unsteady or turbulent fluid flow. Practical implications As the position of the heated source and cold sink on the enclosure geometry can significantly alter the thermo-fluid phenomena, this kind of analysis is of utmost relevance for the further development of efficient heating/cooling arrangements and proper management of the devices subjected to magnetic field applications. This original contribution could be a potentially valuable source for future research and exploration pertaining to a thermal system or device, like heat exchangers, solar collectors, thermal storage, electronic cooling, food and drying technologies and others. Originality/value In the literature, an inadequate number of works have focused on a quadrantal cavity, mostly considering the first quadrant of the circle. However, during practical applications, it is possible that the cavity can take the shape of the other three quadrants too, and the corresponding knowledge on relative performance is still missing. Furthermore, the present investigation includes the existence of magnetic fields at various orientations. The impact analysis of this field-induced Lorentz force on the nanofluid thermal performance is another major contribution from the present work that would enrich the domain knowledge and could be useful for thermal system engineers.

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The problem of steady natural convection in a bottom-heated semi-elliptical enclosure has been investigated numerically for a wide range of geometric and flow configurations using the finite volume method. The results are presented for varying Rayleigh numbers, Ra, in the range 1 × 102 ≤ Ra ≤ 5 × 104 and different values of aspect ratio, A = 1, 0.75, 0.5, and 0.25, where the aspect ratio, A, is defined as the ratio of lengths of the semi-minor axis to the semi-major axis of the semi-elliptical enclosure. It has been found that the steady-state solution appears in the form of single or multiple pairs of counter-rotating convection cells depending on the values of physical parameters. For A = 1, 0.75, and 0.5, as the value of Rayleigh number exceeds a critical value, natural convective flow inside the semi-elliptical enclosure exhibits multiple steady solutions with varying pairs of counter-rotating convection cells; however, such multiplicity of steady solutions could not be found for the cases of A = 0.25. The parametric variations of heat transfer and entropy generation rates are studied in detail. It is observed that the average Nusselt number associated with the natural convection in the semi-elliptical cavity is governed by several parameters: aspect ratio, Rayleigh number, number of convection cells, and intensity of convective motion inside the convection cells. The entropy generation due to viscous dissipation is found to be negligible as compared to the entropy generation due to conduction.