Lattice Boltzmann simulation of turbulent natural convection in a square cavity using Cu/water nanofluid

In this paper, lattice Boltzmann simulation of turbulent natural convection with large-eddy simulations (LES) in a square cavity which is filled by water/copper nanofluid has been investigated. The present results are validated by experimental data at Ra = 1.58×109. This study is conducted for high Rayleigh numbers (Ra = 107-109) and volume fractions of nanoparticles (0 ≤ Φ ≤ 0.06). In this research, the effects of nanoparticles are displayed on streamlines and isotherms counters, local and average Nusselt numbers. The average Nusselt number is enhanced by the augmentation of nanoparticle volume fraction in the base fluid while the manner has an erratic trend toward different Rayleigh numbers. © 2013 The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.