Viscous dissipation and radiation effects on MHD natural convection in a square enclosure filled with a porous medium

•Ha decelerates the flow field.•Ha enhances conduction.•Magnetic field orientation is important.•Radiation parameter important.•Nu decreases as Ha increases. Numerical two-dimensional analysis using finite difference approach with “line method” is performed on the laminar magneto-hydrodynamic natural convection in a square enclosure filled with a porous medium to investigate the effects of viscous dissipation and radiation. The enclosure heated from left vertical sidewall and cooled from an opposing right vertical sidewall. The top and bottom walls of the enclosure are considered adiabatic. The flow in the square enclosure is subjected to a uniform magnetic field at various orientation angles (φ=0°, 30°, 45°, 60° and 90°). Numerical computations occur at wide ranges of Rayleigh number, viscous dissipation parameter, magnetic field orientation angles, Hartmann number and radiation parameter. Numerical results are presented with the aid of tables and graphical illustrations. The results of the present work explain that the local and average Nusselt numbers at the hot and cold sidewalls increase with increasing the radiation parameter. From the other side, the role of viscous dissipation parameter is to reduce the local and average Nusselt numbers at the hot left wall, while it improves them at the cold right wall. The results are compared with another published results and it found to be in a good agreement.