MHD flow past a sphere at low and moderate Reynolds numbers

The steady incompressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow past a sphere with an applied magnetic field parallel to the main flow is studied for the Reynolds number, Re, up to 100 and interaction parameter, N, up to 0.7. The magnetic Reynolds number is assumed to be small. It is observed that drag coefficient increases as N increases. The Finite difference method is used to solve the vorticity-stream function form of the non-linear Navier-Stokes equations. The multigrid method is used to solve the finite difference equations. The fifth decimal place convergent solutions are obtained upto the finest grid of 1024×512. Graphs of the streamlines, vorticity lines, surface vorticity and drag coefficient are presented.The authors are grateful to the Principal, Pondicherry Engineering College and Head, Department of Mathematics, Pondicherry Engineering College for providing the necessary facilities. The authors are thankful to Dr. Umamaheswara Rao, Department of Applied Mathematics, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam and Dr. R. Sivakumar, Department of Physics, Pondicherry Engineering College, for their encouragement.