Natural convection of non-Newtonian power-law fluid over axisymmetric and two-dimensional bodies of arbitrary shape in fluid-saturated porous media

Numerical analysis of the free convection coupled heat and mass transfer is presented for non-Newtonian power-law fluids with the yield stress flowing over a two-dimensional or axisymmetric body of an arbitrary shape in a fluid-saturated porous medium. The governing boundary layer equations and boundary conditions are cast into a dimensionless form by the similarity transformation. The resulting system of equations is solved by a finite difference method. The parameters studied are the rheological constants, the buoyancy ratio, and the Lewis number. Representative velocity, temperature, and concentration profiles are presented and discussed. It is found that the results depend strongly on the values of the yield stress parameter and the power-law index of the non-Newtonian fluid.     

A remark on similarity analysis of boundary layer equations of a class of non-Newtonian fluids

A similarity analysis of three-dimensional boundary layer equations of a class of non-Newtonian fluid in which the stress, an arbitrary function of rates of strain, is studied. It is shown that under any group of transformation, for an arbitrary stress function, not all non-Newtonian fluids possess a similarity solution for the flow past a wedge inclined at arbitrary angle except Ostwald-de-Waele power-law fluid. Further it is observed, for non-Newtonian fluids of any model only $90°$ of wedge flow leads to similarity solutions. Our results contain a correction to some flaws in Pakdemirli׳s [14] (1994) paper on similarity analysis of boundary layer equations of a class of non-Newtonian fluids.     

Variable viscosity and slip velocity effects on the flow and heat transfer of a power-law fluid over a non-linearly stretching surface with heat flux and thermal radiation

The flow and heat transfer of a non-Newtonian power-law fluid over a non-linearly stretching surface has been studied numerically under conditions of constant heat flux and thermal radiation and evaluated for the effect of wall slip. The governing partial differential equations are transformed into a set of coupled non-linear ordinary differential equations which are using appropriate boundary conditions for various physical parameters. The remaining set of ordinary differential equations is solved numerically by fourth-order Runge–Kutta method using the shooting technique. The effects of the viscosity, the slip velocity, the radiation parameter, power-law index, and the Prandtl number on the flow and temperature profiles are presented. Moreover, the local skin friction and Nusselt numbers are presented. Comparison of numerical results is made with the earlier published results under limiting cases.     

Non-Newtonian effect on natural convection flow over cylinder of elliptic cross section

The non-Newtonian effect in the boundary layer flow over a horizontal elliptical cylinder is investigated numerically. A modified power-law viscosity model is used to correlate the non-Newtonian characteristics of the fluid flow. For natural convectionflows, the surface of the cylinder is maintained by the uniform surface temperature(UST)or the uniform heat flux(UHF) condition. The governing equations corresponding to theflow are first transformed into a dimensionless non-similar form using suitable transformations. The resulting equations are solved numerically by an efficient finite difference scheme. The numerical results are presented for the skin friction coefficient and the local Nusselt number with the eccentric angle for different values of the power-law index n. The local skin friction coefficient and the local Nusselt number are found to be higher and lower, respectively, for the shear thickening fluids(n > 1) than the other fluids(n≤1).The effects of different elliptical configurations on the average Nusselt number are also presented and discussed for both conditions of the surface temperature.     

On axisymmetric flow of Sisko fluid over a radially stretching sheet

This study presents an analysis of the axisymmetric flow of a non-Newtonian fluid over a radially stretching sheet. The momentum equations for two-dimensional flow are first modeled for Sisko fluid constitutive model, which is a combination of power-law and Newtonian fluids. The general momentum equations are then simplified by invoking the boundary layer analysis. Then a non-linear ordinary differential equation governing the axisymmetric boundary layer flow of Sisko fluid over a radially stretching sheet is obtained by introducing new suitable similarity transformations. The resulting non-linear ordinary differential equation is solved analytically via the homotopy analysis method (HAM). Closed form exact solution is then also obtained for the cases n=0 and 1. Analytical results are presented for the velocity profiles for some values of governing parameters such as power-law index, material parameter and stretching parameter. In addition, the local skin friction coefficient for several sets of the values of physical parameter is tabulated and analyzed. It is shown that the results presented in this study for the axisymmetric flow over a radially non-linear stretching sheet of Sisko fluid are quite general so that the corresponding results for the Newtonian fluid and the power-law fluid can be obtained as two limiting cases.     

An analysis for forced convection heat transfer from external surfaces to non-Newtonian fluids

A theoretical analysis has been proposed for the forced convection heat transfer from external surfaces immersed in non-Newtonian fluids of the power-law model. The integral treatment previously introduced for Newtonian fluids has been successfully extended to the non-Newtonian fluids over a flat plate and a wedge of an arbitrary included angle. The integral momentum and energy equations are transformed into a pair of characteristic equations, which can readily be solved for the velocity shape factor and the boundary layer thickness ratio, once the exponents in the expressions for the power-law model, free stream velocity and wall temperature variation are specified. It has been also found that an asymptotic expression derived under the assumption of large Prandtl number, is valid practically for all power-law fluids, and hence, can be used for a speedy, and yet accurate estimation of the local heat transfer to non-Newtonian fluids.     

Conjugate heat transfer with radiation from a vertical circular pin in a non-newtonian ambient medium

An analysis is presented for the heat transfer characteristics of a steady, laminar, mixed convective flow of power-law type non-Newtonian fluid over a circular pin by the conjugate convection-conduction theory including radiative effects under optically thick limit approximation. Numerical results are presented for the dimensionless heat transfer coefficients, local and overall heat fluxes and temperature distribution of the pin by a simultaneous solution of the convective boundary layer equations of the fluid and the energy equation of the pin.     

Simplified lattice Boltzmann method for non-Newtonian power-law fluid flows

In this paper, we present a simplified lattice Boltzmann method for non-Newtonian power-law fluid flows. The new method adopts the predictor-corrector scheme and reconstructs solutions to the macroscopic equations recovered from the lattice Boltzmann equation through Chapman-Enskog expansion analysis. The truncated power-law model is incorporated into this method to locally adjust the physical viscosity and the associated relaxation parameter, which recovers the non-Newtonian behaviors. Compared with existing non-Newtonian lattice Boltzmann models, the proposed method directly evolves the macroscopic variables instead of the distribution functions, which eliminates the intrinsic drawbacks like high cost in virtual memory and inconvenient implementation of physical boundary conditions. The validity of the method is demonstrated by benchmark tests and comparisons with analytical solution or numerical results in the literature. Benchmark solutions to the three-dimensional lid-driven cavity flow of non-Newtonian power-law fluid are also provided for future reference.     

On the existence of self-similar solutions of the equations governing unsteady flow through a porous medium

In this paper the conditions for the existence of self-similar solutions of the equations governing unsteady flows through a porous medium are presented and discussed. The first two sections deal with the case of non-Newtonian fluids of power-law behavior; the third section analyzes the case of non-Darcy gas flows. The boundary and initial conditions occuring currently in a large class of fluid mechanics problems, of practical interest in engineering, are considered.     

Conjugate free convection of non-Newtonian fluids about a vertical cylindrical fin in porous media

Conjugate free convection along a vertical cylindrical fin in a non-Newtonian fluid-saturated porous medium has been investigated theoretically. The boundary layer equations based on the power lay model appropriate for the Darcy flows are solved numerically exploiting a very efficient finite difference method. Effects of the power-law index, conjugate convection-conduction parameter and the surface curvature parameter on the fin temperature distribution, local heat transfer-coefficient and local heat flux are studied and presented in graphical and tabular form.     

Self-similar solutions of non-Newtonian fluid boundary layer in MHD

The self-similar solutions of the boundary layer for a non-Newtonian fluid in MHD were considered in [1, 2] for a power-law velocity distribution along the outer edge of the layer and constant electrical conductivity through the entire flow. However, the MHD flows of many conducting media, which are solutions or molten metals, cannot be described by the MHD equations for non-Newtonian fluids.The self-similar solutions of the boundary layer for a non-Newtonian fluid without account for interaction with the electromagnetic field were studied in [3].In the following we present the self-similar solutions for the boundary layer of pseudoplastic and dilatant fluids with account for the interaction with an electromagnetic field for the case of a power-law velocity distribution along the outer edge of the layer, when the conductivity of the fluid is constant throughout the flow and the magnetic Reynolds number is small.Izv. AN SSSR. Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, Vol. 2, No. 6, pp. 77–82, 1967The author wishes to thank S. V. Fal'kovich for his interest in this study.     

The Falkner–Skan Wedge Flows of Power-Law Fluids Embedded in a Porous Medium

The non-Darcy flow characteristics of power-law non-Newtonian fluids past a wedge embedded in a porous medium have been studied. The governing equations are converted to a system of first-order ordinary differential equations by means of a local similarity transformation and have been solved numerically, for a number of parameter combinations of wedge angle parameter m, power-law index of the non-Newtonian fluids n, first-order resistance A and second-order resistance B, using a fourth-order Runge–Kutta integration scheme with the Newton–Raphson shooting method. Velocity and shear stress at the body surface are presented for a range of the above parameters. These results are also compared with the corresponding flow problems for a Newtonian fluid. Numerical results show that for the case of the constant wedge angle and material parameter A, the local skin friction coefficient is lower for a dilatant fluid as compared with the pseudo-plastic or Newtonian fluids.     

Flow of non-newtonian particulate suspension with a compressible particle phase

Continuum equations for a two-phase fluid-particle flow are developed and applied to the problem of steady, laminar flow over an infinite porous flat plate. Both phases are assumed to behave as non-Newtonian power-law fluids. The effects of particle-particle interaction and diffusion of particles are taken into account in the mathematical model. In addition, the particle phase is assumed to have a non-uniform density distribution. The resulting governing equations are nondimensionalized and solved numerically subject to appropriate boundary conditions using an iterative, implicit finite-difference method. Graphical results for the displacement thicknesses and the skin-friction coefficients for both the fluid and particle phases are presented and discussed to elucidate interesting features of the solutions.     

Computational Modelling of Non-Newtonian Effects on Flow in Channels with Moving Wall Indentations

Non-Newtonian effects in a channel with moving wall indentations are assessed numerically by a finite volume method for solving the unsteady incompressible Navier-Stokes equations and using a power-law model exhibiting shear thinning viscosity and Casson's model as the constitutive equations for the non-Newtonian fluid. The computations show that for a non-Newtonian fluid, there are differences in the velocity profiles and in the structure and size of the reversed flow regions as compared with the corresponding Newtonian fluid. The comparison of non-Newtonian and Newtonian wall shear stress reveals a slight decrease in the magnitude on the average for the non-Newtonian case, eventually resulting in the strength of the “wave train” being slightly weaker than those corresponding to a Newtonian fluid.     

Hydrothermal analysis of non-Newtonian fluid flow (blood) through the circular tube under prescribed non-uniform wall heat flux

The present article aims to investigate the Graetz-Nusselt problem for blood as a non-Newtonian fluid obeying the power-law constitutive equation and flowing inside the axisymmetric tube subjected to non-uniform surface heat flux. After the flow field is determined by solving the continuity and the momentum equations, the energy equation is handled by employing the separation of variables method. The resulting Eigen functions and Eigen values are numerically calculated using MATLAB built-in solver BVP4C. The analysis is first conducted for the situation of constant heat flux and subsequently generalized to apply to the case of sinusoidal variation of wall heat flux along the tube length, using Duhamel's Theorem. Furthermore, an approximate analytic solution is determined, employing an integral approach to solve the boundary layer equations. With respect to the comparison, the results of approximate solution display acceptable congruence with those of exact solution with an average error of 7.4%. Interestingly, with decreasing the power-law index, the discrepancy between the two presented methods significantly reduces. Eventually, the influences of the controlling parameters such as surface heat flux and power-law index on the non-Newtonian fluid flow's thermal characteristics and structure are elaborately discussed. It is found that switching from constant wall heat flux to non-uniform wall heat flux that sinusoidally varies along the tube length significantly improves the simulation's accuracy due to the better characterization of the heat transport phenomenon in non-Newtonian fluid flow through the tube. In the presence of sinusoidally varying wall heat flux with an amplitude of 200 W/m²and when the power-law index is 0.25, the maximum arterial wall temperature is found to be about 311.56 K.     

Influence of chemical reaction on heat and mass transfer of non-Newtonian fluid with yield stress by free convection from vertical surface in porous medium considering Soret effect

The effect of chemical reaction on free convection heat and mass transfer for a non-Newtonian power law fluid over a vertical flat plate embedded in a fluid-saturated porous medium has been studied in the presence of the yield stress and the Soret effect. The governing boundary layer equations and boundary conditions are cast into a dimen- sionless form by similarity transformations, and the resulting system of equations is solved by a finite difference method. The results are preSented and discussed for concentration profiles, as well as the Nusselt number and the Sherwood number for various values of the parameters, which govern the problem. The results obtained show that the flow field is influenced appreciably by the presence of the chemical reaction parameter γ the order of.the chemical reaction parameter m, the Soret number St, the buoyancy ratio N, the Lewis number Le, and the dimensionless rheological parameter Ω.     

Buoyancy-induced flow of non-Newtonian fluids over a non-isothermal body of arbitrary shape in a fluid-saturated porous medium

The buoyancy-induced flows of non-Newtonian fluids over non-isothermal bodies of arbitrary shape within saturated porous media have been treated using the boundary layer approximations and the power-law model to characterize the non-Newtonian fluid behavior. Upon introducing a general similarity transformation which considers both the geometrical effect and the wall temperature effect on the development of the boundary layer length scale, the governing equations for a non-isothermal body of arbitrary shape have been reduced to those for a vertical flat plate. The transformed equations reveal that a plane or axisymmetric body of arbitrary shape possesses its corresponding family of the wall temperature distributions which permit similarity solutions. Numerical integrations were carried out using the Runge-Kutta-Gill method, and the results of the heat transfer function were presented once for all plane and axisymmetric bodies. As illustrations, local wall heat flux distributions were discussed for wedges, cones, spheres, circular cylinders and other geometries. Furthermore, an approximate formula based on the Karman-Pohlhausen integral relation has been presented for speedy and sufficiently accurate estimation of heat transfer rates.     

Transient non-Newtonian flow of a suspension with a compressible particle phase

Equations governing transient two-phase fluid-particle laminar flow over an infinite porous flat plate are developed. Both phases are assumed to behave as non-Newtonian power-law fluids. The mathematical model accounts for particle-phase viscous and diffusive effects. The particles are assumed spherical in shape and having a non-uniform density distribution. The resulting governing equations are nondimensionalized and solved numerically subject to appropriate initial and boundary conditions using an iterative, implicit, tri-diagonal finite-difference method. Graphical results for the displacement thicknesses and the skin-friction coefficients for both the fluid and particle phases are presented and discussed to illustrate special trends of the solutions.     

Mixed convection in non-Newtonian fluids along a vertical plate with variable surface heat flux in a porous medium

A nonsimilar boundary layer analysis is presented for the problem of mixed convection in power-law type non-Newtonian fluids along a vertical plate with power-law surface heat flux distribution. The mixed convection regime is divided into two regions, namely, the forced convection dominated regime and the free convection dominated regime. The two solutions are matched. Numerical results are presented for the details of the velocity and temperature fields. A discussion is provided for the effect of viscosity index on the surface heat transfer rate. Received on 13 October 1998     

Analyses of pseudo-similarity and boundary layer thickness for non-Newtonian falling film flow

One aim of this paper is to provide an extensive study on pseudo-similarity solutions of thermal boundary layer in falling film flow with non-Newtonian power-law fluids. The related mathematical models and solution approach are systematically presented. Another aim of this work is to further investigate the momentum boundary layer and the thermal boundary layer. Based on a newly defined local Prandtl number, the dependence of the thickness of the momentum boundary layer and thermal boundary layer on the power-law index is discussed. It is found that the momentum boundary layer thickness decreases monotonically with power-law index; while the thermal boundary layer thickness decreases slightly with power-law index and increases significantly with the decrease of the local Prandtl number. This study shows that the adopted pseudo-similarity approach is capable of solving the problem of non-similarity thermal boundary layer in the falling film of a non-Newtonian power-law fluid.