Enhancing heat transfer and flow control with porous plates around a square cylinder

This study presents a two-dimensional numerical evaluation of thermal transport mechanisms enhancement and flow control around a square cylinder by employing a combination of two passive techniques: porous materials and splitter plates, at low Reynolds numbers. Despite the geometric simplicity of the cylinder, the surrounding flow exhibits complex behaviors that pose challenges in drag reduction and thermal optimization. Six different configurations were developed, each incorporating a pair of splitter plates positioned upper and lower the cylinder. While the splitter plates in the first and fourth models are solid, the others feature porous designs either partially covered with a porous layer or entirely made of porous material. Key flow and thermal parameters, including the coefficient of drag and lift, average Nusselt number, were analyzed for all models. Two of them demonstrated superior performance and were further examined under varying conditions of porous permeability, thickness of porous layer, and Reynolds number. Results show that combining porous splitter plates with a porous layer increases the average Nusselt number by up to 35 % and reduces the average drag coefficient by 22 % compared to the baseline case (bare cylinder). Higher permeability and thicker porous layers further enhance heat transfer and reduce aerodynamic forces, highlighting the potential of combined passive strategies for optimizing flow-thermal performance around bluff bodies.