Numerical Investigation of Free Convection of Non-Newtonian Thickening Power Law Fluids in an Asymmetrical Enclosure under Various Inclinations

Free convection heat transfer of a non-Newtonian thickening power law fluid in a closed asymmetrical enclosure with fixed aspect ratio was investigated in this study. Many of the previous studies, addressed the case with symmetrical heat transfer enclosure and for a given inclination. The governing equations were established by the finite volume method and solved by the SIMPLEC algorithm. In order to evaluate the code, its results were compared to those of other papers in the field of Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids. The impact of the enclosure inclination and the Rayleigh number on the heat transfer and the flow field were investigated. It was found that for Rayleigh numbers smaller than , inclination has little impact on heat transfer, while at Rayleigh numbers larger than , the lowest heat transfer was observed at an angle of . Moreover, the results pertaining to Newtonian and non-Newtonian thickening fluids were compared. The results show that heat transfer by thickening non-Newtonian fluids, in addition to other parameters, depends on the parameter (n) and in the case of the angle of inclination , the heat transfer of Newtonian and non-Newtonian thickening fluids is equal. Considering the non-Newtonian behavior of the fluid and nondimensionalization of the problem, a new dimensionless number known as the extended Prandtl number 〖(Pr〗^*) appeared in the equations that depends on fluids characteristics, flow geometry, and the power law exponent . Its optimal value was observed at 〖(Pr〗^*=0.07) where heat transfer from the enclosure was at maximum.