Numerical Investigation on Marginal Stability and Convection with and without Magnetic Field in a Mushy Layer

In this article, an investigation is conducted to analyze the marginal stability with and without magnetic field in a mushy layer. During alloy solidification, such mushy layer, which is adjacent to the solidification front and composed of solid dendrites and liquid, is known to produce vertical chimneys. Here, we carry out numerical investigation for particular range of parameter values, which cover those of available experimental studies, to determine the convective flow at the onset of motion. The governing coupled non-linear partial differential equations are non-dimensionalised and solved to get the steady basic-state solution. The thickness of the mushy layer is determined as a part of the solution. Using multiple shooting technique, we determine the steady-state solutions in a range of critical Rayleigh number. We analyse the effect of several parameters, Chandrasekhar number Q, and Robert’s number τ on the problem. It was found that an increase in Q has a stabilizing effect on solidification and the critical Rayleigh number increases on increasing Q. It was also found that for moderate or small values of Robert’s number τ the critical Rayleigh number is mostly insensitive.     

On non-linear magneto convection in a mushy layer with joule heating

This paper studies the flow pattern of non-linear magneto convection that can be realized in a horizontal mushy layer and in the presence of joule heating, which is the amount of heat produced by the induced magnetic field. We consider the appropriate system of equations and the associated boundary conditions for the flow in the mushy layer subjected to a vertical magnetic field of uniform strength. Under certain assumptions and conditions, we determine the stable finite-amplitude solutions of the resulting system using a perturbation approach and stability analysis. We find, in particular, that for a wide range of values of the joule heating parameter and sufficiently small amplitude of the flow, the only stable convective flow is in the form of subcritical down-hexagons with down-flow at the cells' centers and up-flow at the cells' boundaries. This result is in sharp contrast to the case in the absence of joule heating where instead the subcritical up-hexagons with up-flow at the cells' centers and down-flow at the cells' boundaries can be stable. In the presence of joule heating the stable subcritical down-hexagons were found to be enhanced with increasing the strength of the externally imposed magnetic field.     

Linear stability of solutal convection in solidifying mushy layers: permeable mush–melt interface

The linear stability theory is used to investigate analytically the effect of a permeable mush–melt boundary condition on the stability of solutal convection in a mushy layer of homogenous permeability at the near eutectic (solid) limit. The results clearly show that, in contrast to the impermeable mush–melt interface boundary condition, the application of the permeable mush–melt interface boundary condition destabilizes the convection in a mushy layer.     

On Nonlinear Evolution Approach for Convective Flow during Alloy Solidification

We consider the problem of nonlinear buoyant flow in a horizontal mushy layer during alloy solidification. We study the nonlinear evolution of such flow based on a recently developed realistic model for the mushy layer. The evolution approach is based on a Landau type equation for the amplitude of the secondary nonlinear solution, which is derived in this article. Using both analytical and computational methods, we calculate the solution to the evolution equation for both subcritical and supercritical regimes. We find, in particular, that for a passive mush, where the permeability is constant, and supercritical regime, the primary solution is linearly unstable to the secondary solution which becomes a steady stable solution for sufficiently large time, while the secondary solution decays to zero for the subcritical regime. On the other hand, for a realistic reactive mush, where the permeability is variable, the secondary flow can break down in a finite time for either supercritical or subcritical regime, which indicates existence of some kind of bursting behavior. These results are then compared to the corresponding ones based on the weakly nonlinear theory.     

Steady nonlinear hydromagnetic flow and heat transfer over a stretching surface of variable temperature

The steady nonlinear hydromagnetic flow of an incompressible, viscous and electrically conducting fluid with heat transfer over a surface of variable temperature stretching with a power-law velocity in the presence of variable transverse magnetic field is analysed. Utilizing similarity transformation, governing nonlinear partial differential equations are transformed to nonlinear ordinary differential equations and they are numerically solved using fourth-order Runge–Kutta shooting method. Numerical solutions are illustrated graphically by means of graphs. The effects of magnetic field, stretching parameter and Prandtl number on velocity, skin friction, temperature distribution and rate of heat transfer are discussed.     

On Three-Dimensional Non-linear Buoyant Convection in Ternary Solidification

We consider the problem of three-dimensional non-linear buoyant convection in ternary solidification. Under the limit of large far-field temperature, the convective flow is modeled to be in a rectangular cube composing of a horizontal liquid layer above a primary mushy layer, which itself is over a secondary mushy layer. We first apply linear stability analysis to calculate the conditions at the onset of motion. Next, we carry out weakly non-linear analyses to determine solutions in the form of hexagons and their possible stability and to obtain information about tendency for chimney formation. We find that if the flow is driven either from both mushy layers with equal critical conditions at the onset of motion or only by the primary mushy layer, then the flow can be in the form of a double-cell structure vertically with down-hexagons below or above up-hexagons. There is tendency for vertically oriented chimney formation at different horizontal locations in each mushy layer. For the cases where only the critical conditions at the onset of motion are equal in both mushy layers and depending on the values of the mush Rayleigh numbers, the flow can be subcritical (or supercritical) in both mushy layers or mixed subcritical in one layer and supercritical in another layer.     

Mixed convection flow over a vertical wedge embedded in a highly porous medium

 The steady mixed convection flow over a vertical wedge with a magnetic field embedded in a porous medium has been investigated. The effects of the permeability of the medium, surface mass transfer and viscous dissipation on the flow and temperature fields have been included in the analysis. The coupled nonlinear partial differential equations governing the flow field have been solved numerically using the Keller box method. The skin friction and heat transfer are found to increase with the parameters characterizing the permeability of the medium, buoyancy force, magnetic field and pressure gradient. However the effect of the permeability and magnetic field on the heat transfer is very small. The heat transfer increases with the Prandtl number, but the skin friction decreases. The buoyancy force which assists the forced convection flow causes an overshoot in the velocity profiles. Both the skin friction and heat transfer increase with suction and the effect of injection is just the reverse. Received on 21 May 1999     

Effect of Hall current on MHD natural convection flow from vertical permeable flat plate with uniform surface heat flux

The effect of the Hall current on the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) natural convection flow from a vertical permeable flat plate with a uniform heat flux is analyzed in the presence of a transverse magnetic field. It is assumed that the induced magnetic field is negligible compared with the imposed magnetic field. The boundary layer equations are reduced to a suitable form by employing the free variable formulation (FVF) and the stream function formulation (SFF). The parabolic equations obtained from FVF are numerically integrated with the help of a straightforward finite difference method. Moreover, the nonsimilar system of equations obtained from SFF is solved by using a local nonsimilarity method, for the whole range of the local transpiration parameter ζ. Consideration is also given to the regions where the local transpiration parameter ζ is small or large enough. However, in these particular regions, solutions are acquired with the aid of a regular perturbation method. The effects of the magnetic field M and the Hall parameter m on the local skin friction coefficient and the local Nusselt number coefficient are graphically shown for smaller values of the Prandtl number Pr (= 0.005, 0.01, 0.05). Furthermore, the velocity and temperature profiles are also drawn from various values of the local transpiration parameter ζ.     

Effect of Low Rotation Rate on Steady Convection During the Solidification of a Ternary Alloy

We consider the problem of steady convective flow during the directional solidification of a horizontal ternary alloy system rotating at a constant and low rate about a vertical axis. Under the limit of large far-field temperature, the flow region is modeled to be composed of two horizontal mushy layers, which are referred to here as a primary layer over a secondary layer. We first determine the basic state solution and then carry out linear stability analysis to calculate the neutral stability boundary and the critical conditions at the onset of motion. We find, in particular, that there are two flow solutions and each solution exhibits two neutral stability boundaries, and the flow can be multi-modal in the low rotating rate case with local minima on each neutral boundary. The critical Rayleigh number and the wave number as well as the vertical volume flux increase with the rotation rate, but the flow is found to be less stabilizing as compared to the binary alloy counterpart flow. The effects of low rotation rate increase the solid fraction and the liquid fraction at certain vertically oriented fluid lines, and the highest value of such increase is at a horizontal level close to the interface between the two mushy layers.     

Blood flow in stenosed arteries with radially variable viscosity, peripheral plasma layer thickness and magnetic field

A novel approach of combined mathematical and computational models has been developed to investigate the oscillatory two-layered flow of blood through arterial stenosis in the presence of a transverse uniform magnetic field applied. Blood in the core region and plasma fluid in the peripheral layer region are assumed to obey the law of Newtonian fluid. An analytical solution is obtained for velocity profile and volumetric flow rate in the peripheral plasma region and also wall shear stress. Finite difference method is employed to solve the momentum equation for the core region. The numerical solutions for velocity, flow rate and flow resistance are computed. The effects of various parameters associated with the present flow problem such as radially variable viscosity, hematocrit, plasma layer thickness, magnetic field and pulsatile Reynolds number on the physiologically important flow characteristics namely velocity distribution, flow rate, wall shear stress and resistance to flow have been investigated. It is observed that the velocity increases with the increase of plasma layer thickness. An increase or a decrease in the velocity and wall shear stress against the increase in the value of magnetic parameter (Hartmann number) and hematocrit is dependent on the value of t. An increase in magnetic field leads to an increase in the flow resistance and it decreases with the increase in the plasma layer thickness and pulsatile Reynolds number. The information concerning the phase lag between the flow characteristics and how it is affected by the hematocrit, plasma layer thickness and Hartmann number has, for the first time, been added to the literature.     

Solidification and Flow of a Binary Alloy Over a Moving Substrate

We study the solidification and flow of a binary alloy over a horizontally moving substrate. A situation in which the solid, liquid and mushy regions are separated by the stationary two-dimensional interfaces is considered. The self-similar solutions of the governing boundary layer equations are obtained, and their parametric dependence is analysed asymptotically. The effect of the boundary layer flow on the physical characteristics is determined. It is found that the horizontal pulling and the resulting flow in the liquid enhance the formation of the mushy region.     

Effect of Thermal Non-Equilibrium on Convective Instability in a Ferromagnetic Fluid-Saturated Porous Medium

The effect of local thermal non-equilibrium (LTNE) on the onset of thermomagnetic convection in a ferromagnetic fluid-saturated horizontal porous layer in the presence of a uniform vertical magnetic field is investigated. A modified Forchheimer-extended Darcy equation is employed to describe the flow in the porous medium, and a two-field model is used for temperature representing the solid and fluid phases separately. It is found that both the critical Darcy–Rayleigh number and the corresponding wave number are modified by the LTNE effects. Asymptotic solutions for both small and large values of scaled interphase heat transfer coefficient H _t are presented and compared with those computed numerically. An excellent agreement is obtained between the asymptotic and the numerical results. Besides, the influence of magnetic parameters on the instability of the system is also discussed. The available results in the literature are recovered as particular cases from the present study.     

Influence of a homogeneous axial magnetic field on Taylor–Couette flow of ferrofluids with low particle–particle interaction

Experimental results concerning the stability of Couette flow of ferrofluids under magnetic field influence are presented. The fluid cell of the Taylor–Couette system is subject to a homogeneous axial magnetic field and the axial flow profiles are measured by ultrasound Doppler velocimetry. It has been found that an axial magnetic field stabilizes the Couette flow. This effect decreases with a rotating outer cylinder. Moreover, it could be observed that lower axial wave numbers are more stable at a higher axial magnetic field strength. Since the used ferrofluid shows a negligible particle–particle interaction, the observed effects are considered to be solely based on the hindrance of free particle rotation.     

The influence of thermal radiation on hydromagnetic Darcy-Forchheimer mixed convection flow past a stretching sheet embedded in a porous medium

A boundary layer analysis is performed to study the influence of thermal radiation and buoyancy force on two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic flow of an incompressible viscous and electrically conducting fluid over a vertical stretching sheet embedded in a porous medium in the presence of inertia effect. The governing system of partial differential equations is first transformed into system of ordinary differential equations using self-similarity transformation. A special form for magnetic field is chosen to obtain the similarity solution. The transformed boundary layer equations are solved numerically for some important values of the physical parameters. The present results are compared with the previously published papers and the results are found to be in excellent agreement. The important features of the flow, heat and mass transfer characteristics for different values of thermal radiation, porous permeability, magnetic field and buoyancy parameters are analyzed and discussed. The effects of various physical parameters on the skin friction coefficient, local Nusselt number and local Sherwood number are also presented. It is found that increase in the value of thermal radiation parameter R ₁ increases the skin friction coefficient and Sherwood number whereas reverse trend is seen for the local Nusselt number.     

Variable permeability effect on buoyancy-induced inclined boundary layer flow in a saturated porous medium with variable wall temperature

The analysis is carried out for buoyancy-induced boundary layer flow adjacent to an inclined heated surface in a saturated porous medium incorporating the variation of permeability and thermal conductivity due to paking particles with non-uniform temperature. The surface temperature is assumed to vary as a power function of the axial coordinate measured from the leading edge of the surface. Both the streamwise and normal component of the buoyancy force are retained in the momentum equations. Numerical solutions are obtained in the cases of uniform and nonuniform permeability and various values of the inclination parameter ξ (x) = (Ra _x cos ϕ)^1/3 tan ϕ by using finite difference method. The problem is solved using nonsimilarity solutions for the case of variable wall temperature. Results for the details of the velocity and temperature fields as well as local Nusselt number have been presented.     

Hydromagnetic flow and heat transfer adjacent to a stretching vertical sheet with prescribed surface heat flux

The similarity solution for the problem of mixed convection boundary layer flow adjacent to a stretching vertical sheet in an incompressible electrically conducting fluid in the presence of a transverse magnetic field is presented. It is assumed that the sheet is stretched with a power-law velocity and is subjected to a variable surface heat flux. The governing partial differential equations are first transformed into a system of non-linear ordinary differential equations, before being solved numerically by the Keller-box method. The numerical results obtained are then compared with previously reported cases available in the literature as well as the series solution for certain values of parameters, to support their validity. The effects of the governing parameters on the flow field and heat transfer characteristics are obtained and discussed.     

Stability of Solutal Convection in a Gravity Modulated Mushy Layer During the Solidification of Binary Alloys

The linear stability theory is used to investigate analytically the effects of gravity modulation on solutal convection in the mushy layer of solidifying binary alloys. The gravitational field consists of a constant part and a sinusoidally varying part, which is synonymous to a vertically oscillating mushy layer subjected to constant gravity. The linear stability results are presented for both the synchronous and subharmonic solutions. It is demonstrated that up to the transition point between the synchronous and subharmonic regions, increasing the frequency of vibration rapidly stabilizes the solutal convection. Beyond the transition point, further increases in the frequency tend to destabilize the solutal convection, but gradually. It is also demonstrated that the effect of increasing the ratio of the Stefan number and the solid composition (₀) is to destabilize the solutal convection.     

Similarity Solution of Unsteady Boundary Layer Equations with a Magnetic Field

The unsteady laminar incompressible boundary layer flow of an electricallyconducting fluid in the stagnation region of two-dimensional and axisymmetricbodies with an applied magnetic field has been studied. The boundary layerequations which are parabolic partial differential equations with threeindependent variables have been reduced to a system of ordinary differential equations by using suitable transformations and then solved numerically using a shooting method. Here, we have obtained new solutions which are solutions of both the boundary layer and Navier-Stokes equations.     

Asymptotic solutions for the asymmetric flow in a channel with porous retractable walls under a transverse magnetic field

The self-similarity solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations are constructed for an incompressible laminar flow through a uniformly porous channel with retractable walls under a transverse magnetic field. The flow is driven by the expanding or contracting walls with different permeability. The velocities of the asymmetric flow at the upper and lower walls are different in not only the magnitude but also the direction. The asymptotic solutions are well constructed with the method of boundary layer correction in two cases with large Reynolds numbers, i.e., both walls of the channel are with suction, and one of the walls is with injection while the other one is with suction. For small Reynolds number cases, the double perturbation method is used to construct the asymptotic solution. All the asymptotic results are finally verified by numerical results.     

Magnetohydrodynamic effects on natural convection flow of a nanofluid in the presence of heat source due to solar energy

The objective of the present work is to investigate theoretically the MHD convective flow and heat transfer of an incompressible viscous nanofluid past a porous vertical stretching sheet in the presence of variable stream condition due to solar radiation (incident radiation). The governing equations are derived using the usual boundary-layer and Boussinesq approximations and accounting for the presence of an applied magnetic field and incident radiation flux. The absorbed radiation acts as a distributed source which initiates buoyancy-driven flow and convection in the absorbed layer. The partial differential equations governing the problem under consideration are transformed by a special form of Lie symmetry group transformations viz. one-parameter group of transformation into a system of ordinary differential equations which are solved numerically using Runge Kutta Gill based shooting method. The conclusion is drawn that the flow field and temperature are significantly influenced by radiation, heat source and magnetic field.