Application of lattice Boltzmann method to curved boundaries for simulating nanofluid flow in an L-Shape enclosure

Purpose This paper aims to use the Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) to numerically simulate the natural convection heat transfer of Cu-water nanofluid in an L-shaped enclosure with curved boundaries. Design/methodology/approach LBM on three different models of curved L-shape cavity using staircase approach is applied to perform a comparative investigation for the effects of curved boundary on fluid flow and heat transfer. The staircase approximation is a straightforward and efficient approach to simulating curved boundaries in LBM. Findings The effect of curved boundary on natural convection in different parameter ranges of Rayleigh number and nanoparticle volume fraction is investigated. The curved L-shape results are also compared to the rectangular L-shape results that were also achieved in this study. The curved boundary LBM simulation is also validated with existing studies, which shows great accuracy in this study. The results show that the top curved boundary in curved L-shape models causes a notable increase in the Nusselt number values. Originality/value Based on existing literature, there is a lack of comparative studies which would specifically examine the effects of curved boundaries on natural convection in closed cavities. Particularly, the application of curved boundaries to an L-shape cavity has not been examined. In this study, curved boundaries are applied to the sharp corners of the bending section in the L-shape and the results of the curved L-shape models are compared to the simple rectangular L-shape model. Hence, a comparative evaluation is performed for the effect of curved boundaries on fluid flow in the L-shape enclosure.