Laminar mixed convection characteristics in a square cavity with an isothermally heated square blockage inside have been investigated numerically using the finite volume method of the ANSYS FLUENT commercial CFD code. Various different blockage sizes and concentric and eccentric placement of the blockage inside the cavity have been considered. The blockage is maintained at a hot temperature, T-h, and four surfaces of the cavity (including the lid) are maintained at a cold temperature, T-c, under all circumstances. The physical problem is represented mathematically by sets of governing conservation equations of mass, momentum, and energy. The geometrical and flow parameters for the problem are the blockage ratio (B), the blockage placement eccentricities (epsilon(x) and epsilon(y)), the Reynolds number (Re), the Grashof number (Gr), and the Richardson number (Ri). The flow and heat transfer behavior in the cavity for a range of Richardson number (0.01-100) at a fixed Reynolds number (100) and Prandtl number (0.71) is examined comprehensively. The variations of the average and local Nusselt number at the blockage surface at various Richardson numbers for different blockage sizes and placement eccentricities are presented. From the analysis of the mixed convection process, it is found that for any size of the blockage placed anywhere in the cavity, the average Nusselt number does not change significantly with increasing Richardson number until it approaches the value of the order of 1 beyond which the average Nusselt number increases rapidly with the Richardson number. For the central placement of the blockage at any fixed Richardson number, the average Nusselt number decreases with increasing blockage ratio and reaches a minimum at around a blockage ratio of slightly larger than 1/2. For further increase of the blockage ratio, the average Nusselt number increases again and becomes independent of the Richardson number. The most preferable heat transfer (based on the average Nusselt number) is obtained when the blockage is placed around the top left and the bottom right corners of the cavity. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.