Fluid–structure interaction of free convection in a square cavity divided by a flexible membrane and subjected to sinusoidal temperature heating

Abstract

<jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Purpose</jats:title> <jats:p>The purpose of the present paper is to model a cavity, which is equally divided vertically by a thin, flexible membrane. The membranes are inevitable components of many engineering devices such as distillation systems and fuel cells. In the present study, a cavity which is equally divided vertically by a thin, flexible membrane is model using the fluid–structure interaction (FSI) associated with a moving grid approach.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Design/methodology/approach</jats:title> <jats:p>The cavity is differentially heated by a sinusoidal time-varying temperature on the left vertical wall, while the right vertical wall is cooled isothermally. There is no thermal diffusion from the upper and lower boundaries. The finite-element Galerkin technique with the aid of an arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian procedure is followed in the numerical procedure. The governing equations are transformed into non-dimensional forms to generalize the solution.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Findings</jats:title> <jats:p>The effects of four pertinent parameters are investigated, i.e., Rayleigh number (104 = <jats:italic>Ra</jats:italic> = 107), elasticity modulus (5 × 1012 = <jats:italic>E<jats:sub>T</jats:sub></jats:italic> = 1016), Prandtl number (0.7 = <jats:italic>Pr</jats:italic> = 200) and temperature oscillation frequency (2<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = <jats:italic>f</jats:italic> = 240<jats:italic>p</jats:italic>). The outcomes show that the temperature frequency does not induce a notable effect on the mean values of the Nusselt number and the deformation of the flexible membrane. The convective heat transfer and the stretching of the thin, flexible membrane become higher with a fluid of a higher Prandtl number or with a partition of a lower elasticity modulus.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Originality/value</jats:title> <jats:p>The authors believe that the modeling of natural convection and heat transfer in a cavity with the deformable membrane and oscillating wall heating is a new subject and the results have not been published elsewhere.</jats:p> </jats:sec>

A monolithic arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian‐based finite element strategy for fluid–structure interaction problems involving a compressible fluid

“…References 77,78 have studied transient natural convection within a square cavity with flexible diagonal and vertical partitions, respectively. Reference 79 has solved a similar problem with sinusoidal wall heating. Trapezoidal cavities with deformable vertical partitions have been considered in Reference 80.…”

Numerical simulation of fluid dynamic performance of turbulent flow over Hunter turbine with variable angle of blades

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A numerical investigation of the effect of sinusoidal temperature on mixed convection flow in a cavity filled with a nanofluid with moving vertical walls

“…According to the results, the tilting angle of the cavity has a significant impact on natural convection, and as a result, the concave or convex shape of the membrane is also influenced by the tilting angle of the cavity. Mehryan et al 11 explored numerically the natural convection within a regular quadrilateral enclosure that is regularly heated by a sinusoidal time variable temperature on the left vertical wall and chilled isothermally on the right vertical wall. The results revealed that the temperature frequency does not influence the mean values of the Nusselt number or the deformation of the flexible divider.…”