Numerical Study on Free Convection in an Inclined Wavy Porous Cavity with Localized Heating

The goal of the present investigation is to explore the heater position and tilting angle of geometry on a buoyant convective stream and energy transport in a tilted, curved porous cavity. This work can be utilized in the field of solar panel construction and electrical equipment cooling. Since no study has explored the impact of the heater location in an inclined wavy porous chamber, three locations of the heater of finite length on the left sidewall, viz., the top, middle, and bottom, are explored. The stream through the porous material is explained by the Darcy model. The upper and lower walls, as well as the remaining area in the left wall, are covered with thermal insulation, while the curved right sidewall maintains the lower temperature. The governing equations and related boundary conditions are discretized by the finite difference approximations. The equations are then iteratively solved for different heater positions, inclinations, Darcy–Rayleigh number (RaD), and corrugation of the right walls. It is witnessed that the heater locations and cavity inclinations alter the stream and thermal fields within the curved porous domain. Furthermore, all heating zones benefit from improved heat conduction due to the right sidewall’s waviness and the tilted porous domain.