Mixed convection stagnation point flow of a micropolar fluid towards a stretching sheet

The mixed convection two-dimensional boundary layer flow of a micropolar fluid near the stagnation point on a stretching vertical sheet is investigated. The stretching velocity and the surface temperature are assumed to vary linearly with the distance from the stagnation point. The transformed ordinary differential equations are solved numerically for some values of the parameters involved using a finite-difference scheme known as the Keller-box method. The features of the flow and heat transfer characteristics are analyzed and discussed. Both assisting and opposing flows are considered. Results are presented in terms of the skin friction coefficient and the local Nusselt number with selections of velocity, microrotation and temperature profiles. Dual solutions are found to exist for the opposing flow.     

Numerical simulation of MHD stagnation point flow and heat transfer of a micropolar fluid towards a heated shrinking sheet

A comprehensive study of magneto hydrodynamics two‐dimensional stagnation flow with heat transfer characteristics towards a heated shrinking sheet immersed in an electrically conducting incompressible micropolar fluid in the presence of a transverse magnetic field is analyzed numerically. The governing continuity, momentum, angular momentum and heat equations together with the associated boundary conditions are first reduced to a set of self similar nonlinear ordinary differential equations using a similarity transformation and are then solved by a method based on finite difference discretization. Some important features of the flow and heat transfer in terms of normal and streamwise velocities, microrotation and temperature distributions for different values of the governing parameters are analyzed, discussed and presented through tables and graphs. The results indicate that the reverse flow caused due to shrinking of the sheet can be stopped by applying a strong magnetic field. The magnetic field enhances the shear stresses and decreases the thermal boundary layer thickness. The heat loss per unit area from the sheet decreases with an increase in the shrinking parameter. Micropolar fluids exhibit reduction in shear stresses and heat transfer rate as compared with Newtonian fluids, which may be beneficial in the flow and thermal control of polymeric processing. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Variable fluid properties and thermal radiation effects on flow and heat transfer in micropolar fluid film past moving permeable infinite flat plate with slip velocity

This work deals with the influence of thermal radiation on the problem of the mixed convection thin film flow and heat transfer of a micropolar fluid past a moving infinite vertical porous flat plate with a slip velocity.The fluid viscosity and the thermal conductivity are assumed to be the functions of temperature.The equations governing the flow are solved numerically by the Chebyshev spectral method for some representative value of various parameters.In comparison with the previously published work,the excellent agreement is shown.The effects of various parameters on the velocity,the microrotation velocity,and the temperature profiles,as well as the skin-friction coefficient and the Nusselt number,are plotted and discussed.     

Flow of a micropolar fluid due to a porous stretching sheet and heat transfer

The present work investigates the micropolar fluid flow due to a permeable stretching sheet and the resulting heat transfer. Unlike the existing numerical works on the flow phenomenon in the literature, the prime interest here is to analytically work out shape of the solutions and identify whether they are unique. Indeed, unique solutions are detected and presented in the exact formulas for the associated boundary layer equations. Temperature field influenced by the microrotation is also mathematically resolved in the cases of constant wall temperature, constant heat flux and Newtonian heating. To discover the salient physical features of many mechanisms acting on the considered problem, it is adequate to have the analytical velocity and temperature fields and also closed-form skin friction/couple stress/heat transfer coefficients, all as given in the current paper. For instance, the practically significant rate of heat transfer is represented by a single formula valid for all three temperature cases.     

Thermal effects of the micropolar fluid parameters on the laminar free convection in spherical annuli with mixed boundary conditions

The effects of micro-rotation and vortex viscosity in micropolar fluids have been investigated numerically to determine heat transfer by natural convection between concentric and vertically eccentric spheres with specified mixed boundary conditions. Calculations were carried out systematically for several different eccentricities and a range of modified Rayleigh numbers to determine the average Nusslet numbers which are affected by the micropolar parameters (F) of the flow and temperature fields. The skin friction stress on the walls has also been studied and discussed. The governing equations, in terms of vorticity, stream function, temperature and angular momentum are expressed in a spherical polar coordinate system. Results were obtained for steady heat-transfer in spherical annuli at a Prandtl number of 0.7, with the modified Rayleigh number ranging from 10³ to 5 × 10⁵, for a radius ratio of 2.0 and eccentricities varying from −0.625 to +0.625. Comparisons are attempted between the Newtonian fluid and micropolar fluid.     

化学反应对竖直平板边界磁流体动力学微极流体滑流的影响

Heat and mass transfer effects on the unsteady flow of a micropolar fluid through a porous medium bounded by a semi-infinite vertical plate in a slip-flow regime are studied taking into account a homogeneous chemical reaction of the first order. A uniform magnetic field acts perpendicular to the porous surface absorb micropolar fluid with a suction velocity varying with time. The free stream velocity follows an exponentially increasing or decreasing small perturbation law. Using the approximate method, the expressions for the velocity microrotation, temperature, and concentration are obtained. Futher, the results of the skin friction coefficient, the couple stress coefficient, and the rate of heat and mass transfer at the wall are presented with various values of fluid properties and flow conditions.     

Free convection boundary layer flow of a micropolar fluid past slender cones

Using the theory of micropolar fluids developed by Eringen, the transverse curvature effects on axisymmetric free convection boundary layer flow of a micropolar fluid past slender vertical cones are investigated. The case of constant surface heat flux is considered in this paper. Using perturbation techniques, the governing equations for momentum, angular momentum and energy have been solved numerically. Graphical representations for the velocity, angular velocity and thermal functions are presented for various physical and fluid property parameters.     

Mixed convection flow of a micropolar fluid over a stretching sheet

The mixed convective flow of a steady, incompressible micropolar fluid over a stretching sheet has been studied. This situation may arise in polymer technology involving the stretching of plastics sheets. The resulting system of non-linear ordinary coupled differential equations has been solved by the finite element method, using the variational Ritz model. Numerical results obtained for velocity, microrotation and temperature distributions are shown graphically. It was found that an increase in the micropolar parameter leads to a faster rate of cooling of the sheet. Also the velocity increases with an increase in micropolar effects. Microrotation effects are much smaller for the no-spin boundary condition as compared to the other boundary condition which assumes that the gyration vector is identical to the angular velocity of the fluid. Received on 9 February 1998     

Slip effects on heat and mass transfer in MHD micropolar fluid flow over an inclined plate with thermal radiation and chemical reaction

The influence of partial slip, thermal radiation, chemical reaction and temperature‐dependent fluid properties on heat and mass transfer in hydro‐magnetic micropolar fluid flow over an inclined permeable plate with constant heat flux and non‐uniform heat source/sink is studied. The transverse magnetic field is assumed as a function of the distance from the origin. Also it is assumed that the fluid viscosity and the thermal conductivity vary as an inverse function and linear function of temperature, respectively. With the use of the similarity transformation, the governing system of non‐linear partial differential equations are transformed into non‐linear ordinary differential equations and are solved numerically using symbolic software MATHEMATICA 7.0 (Wolfram Research, Champaign, IL). The numerical values obtained for the velocity, microrotation, temperature, species concentration, skin friction coefficient and the Nusselt number are presented through graphs and tables for several sets of values of the parameters. The effects of various physical parameters on the flow and heat transfer characteristics are discussed.Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

MHD flow and heat transfer of micropolar fluid between two porous disks

A numerical study is carried out for the axisymmetric steady laminar incompressible flow of an electrically conducting micropolar fluid between two infinite parallel porous disks with the constant uniform injection through the surface of the disks. The fluid is subjected to an external transverse magnetic field. The governing nonlinear equations of motion are transformed into a dimensionless form through von Karman’s similarity transformation. An algorithm based on a finite difference scheme is used to solve the reduced coupled ordinary differential equations under associated boundary conditions. The effects of the Reynolds number, the magnetic parameter, the micropolar parameter, and the Prandtl number on the flow velocity and temperature distributions are discussed. The results agree well with those of the previously published work for special cases. The investigation predicts that the heat transfer rate at the surfaces of the disks increases with the increases in the Reynolds number, the magnetic parameter, and the Prandtl number. The shear stresses decrease with the increase in the injection while increase with the increase in the applied magnetic field. The shear stress factor is lower for micropolar fluids than for Newtonian fluids, which may be beneficial in the flow and thermal control in the polymeric processing.     

Time periodic electroosmotic flow of micropolar fluids through microparallel channel

The time periodic electroosmotic flow of an incompressible micropolar fluid between two infinitely extended microparallel plates is studied.The analytical solutions of the velocity and microrotation are derived under the Debye-H(u|¨)ckel approximation.The effects of the related dimensionless parameters,e.g.,the micropolar parameter,the frequency,the electrokinetic width,and the wall zeta potential ratio of the upper plate to the lower plate,on the electroosmotic velocity and microrotation are investigated.The results show that the amplitudes of the velocity and the volume flow rate will drop to zero when the micropolar parameter increases from 0 to 1.The effects of the electrokinetic width and the frequency on the velocity of the micropolar fluid are similar to those of the Newtonian fluid.However,the dependence of the microrotation on the related parameters mentioned above is complex.In order to describe these effects clearly,the dimensionless microrotation strength and the penetration depth of the microrotation are defined,which are used to explain the variation of the microrotation.In addition,the effects of various parameters on the dimensionless stress tensor at the walls are studied.     

MHD stagnation point flow of a micropolar fluid towards a heated surface

The problem of two dimensional stagnation point flow of an electrically conducting micropolar fluid impinging normally on a heated surface in the presence of a uniform transverse magnetic field is analyzed. The governing continuity, momentum, angular momentum, and heat equations together with the associated boundary conditions are reduced to dimensionless form using suitable similarity transformations. The reduced self similar non-linear equations are then solved numerically by an algorithm based on the finite difference discretization. The results are further refined by Richardson’s extrapolation. The effects of the magnetic parameter, the micropolar parameters, and the Prandtl number on the flow and temperature fields are predicted in tabular and graphical forms to show the important features of the solution. The study shows that the velocity and thermal boundary layers become thinner as the magnetic parameter is increased. The micropolar fluids display more reduction in shear stress as well as heat transfer rate than that exhibited by Newtonian fluids, which is beneficial in the flow and thermal control of polymeric processing.     

Numerical solutions of free convection boundary layer flow on a solid sphere with Newtonian heating in a micropolar fluid

In this paper, the problem of free convection boundary layer flow on a solid sphere in a micropolar fluid with Newtonian heating, in which the heat transfer from the surface is proportional to the local surface temperature, is considered. The transformed boundary layer equations in the form of partial differential equations are solved numerically using an implicit finite-difference scheme. Numerical solutions are obtained for the local wall temperature, the local skin friction coefficient, as well as the velocity, angular velocity and temperature profiles. The features of the flow and heat transfer characteristics for different values of the material or micropolar parameter K, the Prandtl number Pr and the conjugate parameter γ are analyzed and discussed.     

Two-phase fluid flow in a porous tube: a model for blood flow in capillaries

A theoretical study of blood flow, under the influence of a body force, in a capillary is presented. Blood is modeled as a two-phase fluid consisting of a core region of suspension of all erythrocytes, represented by a micropolar fluid and a plasma layer free from cells modeled as a Newtonian fluid. The capillary is modeled as a porous tube consisting of a thin transition Brinkman layer overlying a porous Darcy region. Analytical expressions for the pressure, microrotation, and velocities for the different regions are given. Plots of pressure, microrotation, and velocities for varying micropolar parameters, hydraulic resistivity, and Newtonian fluid layer thickness are presented. The overall system was found to be sensitive to variations in micropolar coupling number. It was also discovered that high values of hydraulic resistivity result in an overall slower velocity of the micropolar and Newtonian fluid.     

Unsteady three-dimensional MHD flow of the micropolar fluid over an oscillatory disk with Cattaneo-Christov double diffusion

Cattaneo-Christov heat and mass flux models are considered rather than Fourier and Fick laws due to the presence of thermal and concentration transport hyperbolic phenomena. The generalized form of the Navier-Stokes model is considered in hydromagnetic flow. Three-dimensional(3 D) unsteady fluid motion is generated by the periodic oscillations of a rotating disk. Similarity transformations are used to obtain the normalized fluid flow model. The successive over relaxation(SOR) method with finite difference schemes are accomplished for the numerical solution of the obtained partial differential non-linear system. The flow features of the velocity, microrotation, temperature,and concentration fields are discussed in pictorial forms for various physical flow parameters. The couple stresses and heat and mass transfer rates for different physical quantities are explained via tabular forms. For better insight of the physical fluid model, 3 D fluid phenomena and two-dimensional(2 D) contours are also plotted. The results show that the micropolar fluids contain microstructure having non-symmetric stress tensor and are useful in lubrication theory. Moreover, the thermal and concentration waves in CattaneoChristov models have a significance role in the laser heating and enhancement in thermal conductivity.     

Heat and Mass Transfer in MHD Micropolar Flow Over a Vertical Moving Porous Plate in a Porous Medium

An analysis is presented for the problem of free convection with mass transfer flow for a micropolar fluid via a porous medium bounded by a semi-infinite vertical porous plate in the presence of a transverse magnetic field. The plate moves with constant velocity in the longitudinal direction, and the free stream velocity follows an exponentially small perturbation law. A uniform magnetic field acts perpendicularly to the porous surface in which absorbs the micropolar fluid with a suction velocity varying with time. Numerical results of velocity distribution of micropolar fluids are compared with the corresponding flow problems for a Newtonian fluid. Also, the results of the skin-friction coefficient, the couple stress coefficient, the rate of the heat and mass transfers at the wall are prepared with various values of fluid properties and flow conditions.     

Electroosmotic oscillatory flow of micropolar fluid in microchannels: application to dynamics of blood flow in microfluidic devices

The electroosmotic flow of a micropolar fluid in a microchannel bounded by two parallel porous plates undergoing periodic vibration is studied. The equations for conservation of linear and angular momentums and Gauss' s law of charge distribution are solved within the framework of the Debye-H¨uckel approximation. The fluid velocity and microrotation are assumed to depend linearly on the Reynolds number. The study shows that the amplitude of microrotation is highly sensitive to the changes in the magnitude of the suction velocity and the width of the microchannel. An increase in the micropolar parameter gives rise to a decrease in the amplitude of microrotation. Numerical estimates reveal that the microrotation of the suspended microelements in blood also plays an important role in controlling the electro-osmotically actuated flow dynamics in microbio-fluidic devices.     

Numerical investigations of asymmetric flow of a micropolar fluid between two porous disks

Numerical solution is presented for the two- dimensional flow of a micropolar fluid between two porous coaxial disks of different permeability for a range of Reynolds number Re （-300≤ Re 〈 0） and permeability parameter A （1.0≤A ≤2.0）. The main flow is superimposed by the injection at the surfaces of the two disks. Von Karman＇s similarity transformations are used to reduce the governing equations of motion to a set of non-linear coupled ordinary differential equations （ODEs） in dimensionless form. An algorithm based on the finite difference method is employed to solve these ODEs and Richardson＇s extrapolation is used to obtain higher order accuracy. The results indicate that the parameters Re and A have a strong influence on the velocity and microrotation profiles, shear stresses at the disks and the position of the viscous/shear layer. The micropolar material constants cl, c2, c3 have profound effect on microrotation as compared to their effect on streamwise and axial velocity profiles. The results of micropolar fluids are compared with the results for Newtonian fluids.     

On hydrodynamic boundary conditions for microstructural fluids

Various types of boundary conditions used when investigating microrotation are analysed. A boundary condition for studying microstructural fluid flows, which depends on experimental parameters, is suggested. To illustrate the result, expressions are derived for the velocity and microrotation of a micropolar fluid between two coaxial cylinders with a constant relative speed of rotation.     

Axisymmetric flow and heat transfer of the Carreau fluid due to a radially stretching sheet: Numerical study

The prime objective of this article is to study the axisymmetric flow and heat transfer of the Carreau fluid over a radially stretching sheet. The Carreau constitutive model is used to discuss the characteristics of both shear-thinning and shear-thickening fluids. The momentum equations for the two-dimensional flow field are first modeled for the Carreau fluid with the aid of the boundary layer approximations. The essential equations of the problem are reduced to a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations by using local similarity transformations. Numerical solutions of the governing differential equations are obtained for the velocity and temperature fields by using the fifth-order Runge–Kutta method along with the shooting technique. These solutions are obtained for various values of physical parameters. The results indicate substantial reduction of the flow velocity as well as the thermal boundary layer thickness for the shear-thinning fluid with an increase in the Weissenberg number, and the opposite behavior is noted for the shear-thickening fluid. Numerical results are validated by comparisons with already published results.