On existence and uniqueness of solutions to a Boussinesq system with nonlinear and mixed boundary conditions

Abstract: We study a Boussinesq system in a bounded domain with an outlet boundary portion where fluid can leave or re-enter. On this boundary part, we consider a do-nothing condition for the fluid flow, and a new artificial condition for the heat transfer that couples nonlinearly the fluid velocity and temperature. The latter can be further adjusted if convective or conductive phenomena are dominant. We prove existence and, in some cases, uniqueness of weak solutions to stationary and evolutionary problems by a fixed point strategy under suitable assumptions on the data. A variety of numerical tests shows the improved performance of the new artificial condition with respect to other standard choices in the literature.