Three-dimensional simulation of natural convection in cubic cavity partially filled with porous media

The natural convection heat transfer in fluid and porous media is one of interest in several natural and industrial fields. This work focuses on natural convection in a cubic enclosure, partially filled with a central cubic porous media, heated and cooled along vertical walls by uniform temperature. The formulation of the problem is based on Darcy-Brinkman model and the density variation is taken into account by the Boussinesq approximation. The Variations of Nusselt number on the hot and cold walls are also presented to show the overall characteristics of heat transfer to the interior of the enclosure. The study found that the fluid flow and heat transfer are governed by the dimensionless thickness of the porous layer, and the thermal conductivity ratio of the solid matrix of the porous media to that of the fluid.