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 c ₁, c ₂, c ₃ 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.