Unsteady three-dimensional MHD-boundary-layer flow due to the impulsive motion of a stretching surface

Summary The development of velocity and temperature fields of an incompressible viscous electrically conducting fluid, caused by an impulsive stretching of the surface in two lateral directions and by suddenly increasing the surface temperature from that of the surrounding fluid, is studied. The partial differential equations governing the unsteady laminar boundary-layer flow are solved numerically using an implicit finite difference scheme. For some particular cases, closed form solutions are obtained, and for large values of the independent variable asymptotic solutions are found. The surface shear stresses inx-andy-directions and the surface heat transfer increase with the magnetic field and the stretching ratio, and there is a smooth transition from the short-time solution to the long-time solution.     

Heat transfer in a viscoelastic boundary layer flow through a porous medium

This paper examines the viscoelastic fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics in a saturated porous medium over an impermeable stretching surface with frictional heating and internal heat generation or absorption. The heat transfer analysis has been carried out for two different heating processes, namely (i) with prescribed surface temperature (PST-case) and (ii) prescribed surface heat flux (PHF-case). The governing equations for the boundary layer flow problem result similar solutions. For the specified five boundary conditions, it is not possible to solve directly the resulting sixth-order nonlinear ordinary differential equation. For the present incompressible boundary layer flow problem with constant physical parameters, the momentum equation is decoupled from the energy equation. Two closed–form solutions for the momentum equation are obtained and identified the realistic solution of the physical problem. Exact solution for the velocity field and the skin-friction are obtained. Also, the solution for the temperature and the heat transfer characteristics are obtained in terms of Kummers function. Asymptotic results for the temperature function for large Prandtl numbers are presented. The work due to deformation in the energy equation, which is essential and escaped from the attention of researchers while formulating the visco-elastic boundary layer flow problems, is considered. Drastic variation in the values of heat transfer coefficient is observed when the work due to deformation is ignored.The authors would like to thank the reviewers for their valuable comments/ suggestions to improve the clarity of the paper.     

Thermal boundary layers over a shrinking sheet: an analytical solution

In this paper, the heat transfer over a shrinking sheet with mass transfer is studied. The flow is induced by a sheet shrinking with a linear velocity distribution from the slot. The fluid flow solution given by previous researchers is an exact solution of the whole Navier–Stokes equations. By ignoring the viscous dissipation terms, exact analytical solutions of the boundary layer energy equation were obtained for two cases including a prescribed power-law wall temperature case and a prescribed power-law wall heat flux case. The solutions were expressed by Kummer’s function. Closed-form solutions were found and presented for some special parameters. The effects of the Prandtl number, the wall mass transfer parameter, the power index on the wall heat flux, the wall temperature, and the temperature distribution in the fluids were investigated. The heat transfer problem for the algebraically decaying flow over a shrinking sheet was also studied and compared with the exponentially decaying flow profiles. It was found that the heat transfer over a shrinking sheet was significantly different from that of a stretching surface. Interesting and complicated heat transfer characteristics were observed for a positive power index value for both power-law wall temperature and power-law wall heat flux cases. Some solutions involving negative temperature values were observed and these solutions may not physically exist in a real word.     

On the effectiveness of porosity on stagnation point flow towards a stretching surface with heat generation

An analysis is made of the steady laminar flow through a porous medium of an incompressible viscous conducting fluid impinging on a permeable stretching surface with heat generation. Numerical solution for the governing non-linear momentum and energy equations is obtained. The effect of the porosity of the medium, the surface stretching velocity, and the heat generation/absorption coefficient on both the flow and heat transfer is presented and discussed.     

Heat transfer in the flow of a viscoelastic fluid over a stretching sheet

Summary The problem of heat transfer in the viscoelastic fluid flow over a stretching sheet is examined. The important physical quantities such as the skin-friction coefficient and the heat transfer coefficient, are determined. It is found that the heat transfer coefficient decreases with the non-Newtonian parameter.     

Unsteady MHD-boundary-layer of a source and vortex flow adjacent to a stationary surface

Summary The steady laminar incompressible flow of an electrically conducting fluid over an infinite permeable disk in the presence of an axial magnetic field has been investigated, and a self-similar solution of the boundary-layer equations is obtained numerically. For large values of the suction parameter, a closed form solution is obtained. Also, an asymptotic solution is found for large values of the independent variable. The surface-shear stresses in the radial and tangential directions and the surface heat transfer strongly depend on the suction parameter, the ratio of the source and vortex flow and the magnetic field except the surface heat transfer which weakly depends on the magnetic field. The similarity solution of the boundary-layer equations exists only when a certain minimum suction or magnetic field is applied. The results of the analytical solution are in good agreement with those of the numerical solution for the suction parameterf _w3.     

Entropy Generation for Flow and Heat Transfer of Sisko-Fluid Over an Exponentially Stretching Surface

In the present study, the effects of the magnetic field on the entropy generation during fluid flow and heat transfer of a Sisko-fluid over an exponentially stretching surface are considered. The similarity transformations are used to transfer the governing partial differential equations into a set of nonlinear-coupled ordinary differential equations. Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg method is used to solve the governing problem. The effects of magnetic field parameter M, local slip parameter λ, generalized Biot number γ, Sisko fluid material parameter A, Eckert number Ec, Prandtl number Pr and Brinkman number Br at two values of power law index on the velocity, temperature, local entropy generation number N_G and Bejan number Be are inspected. Moreover, the tabular forms for local skin friction coefficient and local Nusselt number under the effects of the physical parameters are exhibited. The current results are helpful in checking the entropy generation for Sisko-fluid. It is found that, an extra magnetic field parameter makes higher Lorentz force that suppresses the velocity. For shear thinning fluids (n < 1), the temperature dominates and the velocity rises. Local entropy generation number is more for larger generalized Biot number, magnetic field parameter and Brinkman number. The local skin friction coefficient increases as magnetic field parameter and material parameter are increase and it decreases as local slip parameter increases. The local Nusselt number decreases as magnetic field parameter, local slip parameter and Eckert number are increase, while it increases as material parameter, generalized Biot number and Prandtl number are increase.     

Numerical study for micropolar flow over a stretching sheet

The paper presents a numerical study of the steady flow of a micropolar fluid flow from a stretching sheet. Approximate analytical solution of high nonlinear momentum, angular momentum and confluent hypergeometric similarity solution of the heat transfer equation are obtained for a particular case when the vortex viscosity is neglected. Accuracy of the analytical solution is verified by numerical solutions obtained by employing finite element and Chebyshev finite difference methods. The good agreement between the numerical results of both methods, together with an excellent agreement with the analytical solutions for the special case, ensures the reliability of the obtained results. The velocity, microrotation and temperature functions are shown graphically and the effect of the permeability parameter is studied.     

Combined radiation and mixed convection from a vertical wall with suction/injection in a non–Darcy porous medium

Summary. Mixed convection flow of an absorbing fluid up a uniform non–Darcy porous medium supported by a semi-infinite ideally transparent vertical flat plate due to solar radiation is considered. The external flow field is assumed to be uniform, the effect of the radiation parameter in the boundary layer adjacent to the vertical flat plate with fluid suction/injection through it is analyzed in both aiding and opposing flow situations. It is observed that the similarity solution is possible only when the fluid suction/injection velocity profile varies as x^–1/2. The velocity and temperature profiles in the boundary layer and the heat transfer coefficient are presented for selected values of the parameters. It is observed that the Nusselt number increases with the increase in the radiation parameter and also when the value of the surface mass flux parameter moves from the injection to the suction region.     

Magnetohydrodynamic heat transfer over a non-isothermal stretching sheet

Summary This paper presents solutions of the energy equation for the boundary layer flow of an electrically conducting fluid under the influence of a constant transverse magnetic field over a linearly stretching non-isothermal flat sheet. Effects due to dissipation, stress work and heat generation are considered. Analytical solutions of the resulting linear nonhomogeneous boundary value problems, expressed in terms of Kummer's functions, are presented for the case of prescribed surface temperature as well as the case of prescribed wall heat flux, both of which are assumed to be quadratic functions of distance. The boundary value problems are also solved by direct numerical integration yielding results in excellent agreement with the analytical solutions.     

Flow of a second-order fluid over a stretching surface having power-law temperature

Summary The important physical quantities such as the coefficients of skin-friction and heat transfer are obtained from the closed-form solutions for the boundary layer equations of the flow of a second-order fluid over a stretching surface having power-law temperature.     

Unsteady flow and heat transfer of a viscous fluid in the stagnation region of a three-dimensional body with a magnetic field

The unsteady incompressible flow and heat transfer of a viscous electrically conducting fluid in the vicinity of a stagnation point of a general three-dimensional body have been studied when the velocity in the potential flow varies arbitrary with time. The magnetic field is applied normal to the surface. The effects of viscous dissipation and Ohmic heating are included in the analysis. Both nodal-point region (0?c?1, where c=b/a is the ratio of the velocity gradients in y and x directions in the potential flow) and saddle-point region (−1?c<0) are considered. The semi-similar solution of the Navier-Stokes equations and the energy equation are obtained numerically using an implicit finite difference scheme. Also a self-similar solution is found when the velocity in the potential flow, the magnetic field and the wall temperature vary with time in a particular manner. The asymptotic behaviour of the self-similar equations for large η is obtained which enables us to find the upper limit of the unsteady parameter λ. One interesting result is that the magnetic field tends to delay or prevent flow reversal in y-component of the velocity. The surface shear stresses in x and y directions and the surface heat transfer increase with the magnetic field as well as with the accelerating free stream velocity.     

On the effectiveness of porosity on unsteady flow between parallel plates of a viscoelastic fluid under constant pressure gradient with heat transfer

The unsteady flow in a porous medium of an incompressible non-Newtonian viscoelastic fluid between two parallel horizontal non-conducting porous plates is studied with heat transfer. A sudden uniform and constant pressure gradient and uniform suction and injection through the surface of the plates are applied. The two plates are kept at different but constant temperatures, while the Joule and viscous dissipations are taken into consideration. Numerical solutions for the governing momentum and energy equations are obtained using finite difference approximations. The effect of the porosity of the medium, the parameter describing the non-Newtonian behavior, and the velocity of suction and injection on both the velocity and temperature distributions is examined.     

Heat Transfer in a Micropolar Fluid along a Non-linear Stretching Sheet with a Temperature-Dependent Viscosity and Variable Surface Temperature

In this paper, heat transfer characteristics of a two-dimensional steady hydromagnetic natural convection flow of a micropolar fluid passed a non-linear stretching sheet taking into account the effects of a temperature-dependent viscosity and variable wall temperature are studied numerically for local similarity solutions by applying the Nachtsheim-Swigert iteration method. The results corresponding to the dimensionless temperature profiles and the local rate of heat transfer are displayed graphically for important material parameters. The results show that in modeling the thermal boundary layer flow with a temperature-dependent viscosity, consideration of the Prandtl number as a constant within the boundary layer produces unrealistic results and therefore it must be treated as a variable rather than a constant within the boundary layer. The results also show that the local rate of heat transfer strongly depends on the non-linear stretching index and temperature index.     

Thermal boundary layer flow of a micropolar fluid past a wedge with constant wall temperature

Summary The steady laminar flow of micropolar fluids past a wedge has been examined with constant surface temperature. The similarity variables found by Falkner and Skan are employed to reduce the streamwise-dependence in the coupled nonlinear boundary layer equation. Numerical solutions are presented for the heat transfer characteristics with Pr=1 using the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method, and their dependence on the material parameters is discussed. The distributions of dimensionless temperature and Nusselt number across the boundary layer are compared with the corresponding flow problems for a Newtonian fluid over wedges. Numerical results show that for a constant wedge angle with a given Prandtl number Pr=1, the effect of increasing values ofK results in an increasing thermal boundary thickness for a micropolar fluid, as compared with a Newtonian fluid. For the case of the constant material parameterK, however, the heat transfer rate for a micropolar fluid is lower than that of a Newtonian fluid.Nomenclature h Dimensionless microrotation - j Micro-inertia density - K Dimensionless parameter of vortex viscosity - m Falkner-Skan power-law parameter - Re Reynolds number - T Temperature - u, v Fluid velocities in thex andy directions, respectively - U Free stream velocity - x Streamwise coordinate along the body surface - y Coordinate normal to the body surface Greek symbols Thermal diffusivity - Wedge angle parameter - Spin gradient viscosity - Pseudo-similarity variable - Vortex viscosity - Absolute viscosity of the fluid - v Kinematic viscosity - Dimensionless temperature - Density of the micropolar fluid - Angular velocity of micropolar fluid - Stream function     

Thermal-diffusion and diffusion-thermo effects on mixed free-forced convective flow and mass transfer over an accelerating surface with a heat source in the presence of suction and blowing in the case of variable viscosity

Summary. An analysis has been carried out to obtain the thermal-diffusion and the diffusion-thermo effects on the mixed free-forced convective and mass transfer steady laminar boundary-layer flow over an accelerating surface with a heat source in the presence of suction and blowing. The fluid viscosity is assumed to vary as an inverse linear function of temperature. The partial differential equations governing the problem under consideration have been transformed by a similarity transformation into a system of ordinary differential equations which is solved numerically by applying the shooting method. The results for an impermeable accelerating surface are discussed. The effects of the variable viscosity parameter _r, the thermal diffusion parameter Sr, the diffusion-thermo parameter Df, suction or blowing parameter m, heat flux parameter s and Schmidt number Sc have been examined on the flow field of a hydrogen-air mixture as a non-chemical reacting fluid pair. The effects of varying these parameters are studied in the case of a surface with prescribed wall temperature and a surface with prescribed wall heat flux.     

Temperature distribution and heat transfer in a laminar incom-pressible annular-channel flow with energy dissipation

Expressions are obtained for the temperature distribution over the section, the heat flow through the channel wall, and the coefficient of heat transfer from the fluid to the wall for the case of a laminar flow in an infinite annular channel with constant specific heat flux at the outer wall of the channel and a thermally insulated inner wall taking energy dissipation into account.     

Effects of uniform radial electric field on the MHD heat and fluid flow due to a rotating disk

The flow and heat transfer of an incompressible electrically conducting fluid over a rotating infinite disk are studied in the present paper. The disk finds itself subjected to a uniform normal magnetic field. The particular interest lies in searching for the effects of an imposed radial electric field on the behavior of the physical flow. The gradient of an electric potential generated on the disk penetrates through the fluid and greatly influences the boundary layer formation. The presented model representing the fluid motion is a general case since it reduces to the traditional Karman’s viscous pump when the electric potential is ignored. The governing Navier–Stokes and Maxwell equations of the constructed model together with the energy equation are converted into self-similar forms using suitable similarity transformations. The flow and thermal boundary layers are shown to be much affected by the presence of a uniform radial electric parameter. Some parameters of fundamental physical significance such as the surface shear stresses in the radial and tangential directions and the heat transfer rate are numerically evaluated. The effects of electric conductivity of the disk on the flow and forced convection heat transfer are further discussed.     

Heat transfer in boundary layer flow of a micropolar fluid past a curved surface with suction and injection

Van Dyke's singular perturbation technique has been used to study the heat transfer in the flow of a micropolar fluid past a curved surface with suction and injection. The conditions for similar solutions of the thermal boundary layer equations have been obtained. In addition to the usual “no slip” condition for velocity, the two types of boundary conditions used for microrotation are: (i) no relative spin on the boundary; (ii) the anti-symmetric part of the stress tensor vanishes at the boundary. The effect of suction or injection on velocity, microrotation, temperature, skin friction coefficient, wall couple stress coefficient, displacement and momentum thicknesses, rate of heat transfer and adiabatic wall temperature have been studied. It is observed that with the increase of injection velocity, the thickness of the boundary layer is increased and the local drag is reduced. A comparison with the results obtained for a Newtonian fluid reveals that the microelements present in the fluid reduce the velocity and frictional drag, and cool the boundary.     

Exact-solution of entropy generation for MHD nanofluid flow induced by a stretching/shrinking sheet with transpiration: Dual solution

In this article, attempts are made to present an exact solution for the fluid flow and heat transfer and also entropy generation analysis of the steady laminar magneto-hydrodynamics (MHD) nanofluid flow induced by a stretching/shrinking sheet with transpiration. This paper is the first contribution to the study of entropy generation for the nanofluid flow via exact solution approach. The governing partial differential equations are transformed into nonlinear coupled ordinary differential equations via appropriate similarity transformations. The current exact solution illustrates very good correlation with those of the previously published studies in the especial cases. The entropy generation equation is derived as a function of the velocity and the temperature gradients. The influences of the different flow physical parameters including the nanoparticle volume fraction parameter, the magnetic parameter, the mass suction/injection parameter, the stretching/shrinking parameter, and the nanoparticle types on the fluid velocity component, the temperature distribution, the skin friction coefficient, the Nusselt number and also the averaged entropy generation number are discussed in details. This study specifies that nanoparticles in the base fluid offer a potential in increasing the convective heat transfer performance of the various liquids. The results show that the copper and the aluminum oxide nanoparticles have the largest and the lowest averaged entropy generation number, respectively, among all the nanoparticles considered.