Abstract

The present study investigates the heat transfer for the unsteady, incompressible, two-dimensional mixed convective copper–water nanofluid flow in a lid-driven square cavity in the presence of the magnetic field. The lid-driven square cavity’s top and bottom walls are assumed to be adiabatic. The nanofluid model is developed in ANSYS-FLUENT using Boussinesq approximation. A pressure-based solver with a Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure-Linked Equations algorithm is used to simulate the governing equations of the model. The results obtained from the developed fluid model are examined for the different influential physical parameters to enhance heat transfer from the cavity to the flowing fluid. Qualitative and quantitative results for nanofluid concentration, magnetic field parameter, and Reynolds number are analyzed. A noteworthy observation is that the velocity of the nanofluid reduces with improvement in the magnetic field strength. The findings of the attempt provide the capability of nanofluids in heat transfer, which aids in creating innovative geometries with improved and regulated heat transfer due to applied magnetic fields. This attempt holds potential applications in solar collectors, electrical devices, and the medical field manageable due to the slower fluid flow (nanofluid). © 2025 the author(s), published by De Gruyter.