Wall–bounded flow and heat transfer around a circular cylinder at low Reynolds and Hartmann numbers

A two–dimensional numerical simulation is performed following a finite volume approach to analyze the forced convection heat transfer for the hydromagnetic flow around a circular cylinder at low Reynolds numbers. The cylinder is placed within a rectangular channel subjected to externally applied magnetic fields and acted upon by the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow of a viscous incompressible and electrically conductive fluid. The magnetic field is applied either along the streamwise or transverse directions. The simulation is carried out for the range of Reynolds number 10 ≤ Re ≤ 80 with Hartmann number 0 ≤ Ha ≤ 10 and for different Prandtl numbers, Pr = 0.02 (liquid metal), 0.71 (air), and 7 (water) for a blockage ratio β = 0.25. The flow is steady for the above range of conditions. Apart from the channel wall, the magnetic field provides additional stability to the flow as a result of which the recirculation region behind the obstacle reduces with increasing magnetic field strength for a particular Reynolds number. The rate of heat transfer is found almost invariant at low Re whereas it increases slightly for higher Re with the applied magnetic field. The heat transfer increases as usual with the Reynolds number for all Hartmann numbers.