An exact analytical solution of the Falkner-Skan equation with mass transfer and wall stretching

In this paper, an exact analytical solution of the famous Falkner-Skan equation is obtained. The solution involves the boundary layer flow over a moving wall with mass transfer in presence of a free stream with a power-law velocity distribution. Multiple solution branches are observed. The effects of mass transfer and wall stretching are analyzed. Interesting velocity profiles including velocity overshoot and reversal flows are observed in the presence of both mass transfer and wall stretching. These solutions greatly enrich the analytical solution for the celebrated Falkner-Skan equation and the understanding of this important and interesting equation.     

Momentum and heat transfer of a special case of the unsteady stagnation-point flow

This paper investigates the unsteady stagnation-point flow and heat transfer over a moving plate with mass transfer,which is also an exact solution to the unsteady Navier-Stokes(NS)equations.The boundary layer energy equation is solved with the closed form solutions for prescribed wall temperature and prescribed wall heat flux conditions.The wall temperature and heat flux have power dependence on both time and spatial distance.The solution domain,the velocity distribution,the flow field,and the temperature distribution in the fluids are studied for different controlling parameters.These parameters include the Prandtl number,the mass transfer parameter at the wall,the wall moving parameter,the time power index,and the spatial power index.It is found that two solution branches exist for certain combinations of the controlling parameters for the flow and heat transfer problems.The heat transfer solutions are given by the confluent hypergeometric function of the first kind,which can be simplified into the incomplete gamma functions for special conditions.The wall heat flux and temperature profiles show very complicated variation behaviors.The wall heat flux can have multiple poles under certain given controlling parameters,and the temperature can have significant oscillations with overshoot and negative values in the boundary layers.The relationship between the number of poles in the wall heat flux and the number of zero-crossing points is identified.The difference in the results of the prescribed wall temperature case and the prescribed wall heat flux case is analyzed.Results given in this paper provide a rare closed form analytical solution to the entire unsteady NS equations,which can be used as a benchmark problem for numerical code validation.     

Unsteady magnetohydrodynamic stagnation point flow — closed-form analytical solutions

This paper investigates the unsteady stagnation point flow and heat transfer of magnetohydrodynamic(MHD) fluids over a moving permeable flat surface. The unsteady Navier-Stokes(NS) equations are transformed into a similarity nonlinear ordinary differential equation, and a closed form solution is obtained for the unsteadiness parameter of 2. The boundary layer energy equation is transformed into a similarity equation,and is solved for a constant wall temperature and a time-dependent uniform wall heat flux case. The solution domain, velocity, and temperature profiles are calculated for different combinations of parameters including the Prandtl number, mass transfer parameter, wall moving parameter, and magnetic parameter. Two solution branches are obtained for certain combinations of the controlling parameters, and a stability analysis demonstrates that the lower solution branch is not stable. The present solutions provide an exact solution to the entire unsteady MHD NS equations, which can be used for validating the numerical code of computational fluid dynamics.     

Unsteady three-dimensional boundary layer flow due to a permeable shrinking sheet

The unsteady viscous flow over a continuously permeable shrinking surface is studied. Similarity equations are obtained through the application of similar transformation techniques. Numerical techniques are used to solve the similarity equations for different values of the unsteadiness parameter, the mass suction parameter, the shrinking parameter and the Prandtl number on the velocity and temperature profiles as well as the skin friction coefficient and the Nusselt number. It is found that, different from an unsteady stretching sheet, dual solutions exist in a certain range of mass suction and unsteadiness parameters.     

Similarity solutions to viscous flow and heat transfer of nanofluid over nonlinearly stretching sheet

The boundary-layer flow and heat transfer in a viscous fluid containing metallic nanoparticles over a nonlinear stretching sheet are analyzed. The stretching velocity is assumed to vary as a power function of the distance from the origin. The governing partial differential equation and auxiliary conditions are reduced to coupled nonlinear ordinary differential equations with the appropriate corresponding auxiliary conditions. The resulting nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) are solved numerically. The effects of various relevant parameters, namely, the Eckert number Ec, the solid volume fraction of the nanoparticles φ, and the nonlinear stretching parameter n are discussed. The comparison with published results is also presented. Different types of nanoparticles are studied. It is shown that the behavior of the fluid flow changes with the change of the nanoparticles type.     

Analytical solution of magnetohydrodynamic sink flow

An analytical solution to the famous Falkner-Skan equation for the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow is obtained for a special case, namely, the sink flow with a velocity power index of −1. The solution is given in a closed form. Multiple solution branches are obtained. The effects of the magnetic parameter and the wall stretching parameter are analyzed. Interesting velocity profiles are observed with reversal flow regions even for a stationary wall. These solutions provide a rare case of the Falkner-Skan MHD flow with an analytical closed form formula. They greatly enrich the analytical solution for the celebrated Falkner-Skan equation and provide better understanding of this equation.     

Flow and heat transfer of nanofluid past stretching/shrinking sheet with partial slip boundary conditions

The boundary layer flow of a nanofluid past a stretching/shrinking sheet with hydrodynamic and thermal slip boundary conditions is studied. Numerical solutions to the governing equations are obtained using a shooting method. The results are found for the skin friction coefficient, the local Nusselt number, and the local Sherwood number as well as the velocity, temperature, and concentration profiles for some values of the velocity slip parameter, thermal slip parameter, stretching/shrinking parameter, thermophoresis parameter, and Brownian motion parameter. The results show that the local Nusselt number, which represents the heat transfer rate, is lower for higher values of thermal slip parameter, thermophoresis parameter, and Brownian motion parameter.     

Dual solutions of a mixed convection flow near the stagnation point region over an exponentially stretching/shrinking sheet in nanofluids

The aim of this paper is to study the development of mixed convection flow near the stagnation point region over an exponentially stretching/shrinking sheet in nanofluids. The external flow, stretching velocity and wall temperature are assumed to vary as prescribed exponential functions. Using the local similarity method, it has been shown that dual solutions of velocity and temperature exist for certain values of suction/injection, mixed convection, nanoparticle volume fraction and stretching/shrinking parameters. The transformed non-linear ordinary differential equations along with the boundary conditions form a two point boundary value problem and are solved using Shooting method, by converting into an initial value problem. In this method, the system of equations is converted into a set of first order system which is solved by fourth-order Runge–Kutta method. Three different types of nanoparticles, namely copper (Cu), aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃) and titanium oxide (TiO₂) are considered by using water-based fluid with Prandtl number Pr = 6.2. It is also found that the skin friction coefficient and the heat transfer rate at the surface are highest for Copper–water nanofluids as compared to Al₂O₃. The effect of the solid volume fraction parameter φ of the nanofluids on the heat transfer characteristics is also investigated. The results indicate that dual solutions exist only for shrinking sheet. The effects of various parameters on the velocity and temperature profiles are also presented here.     

Effect of viscous dissipation and heat source on flow and heat transfer of dusty fluid over unsteady stretching sheet

This paper investigates the problem of hydrodynamic boundary layer flow and heat transfer of a dusty fluid over an unsteady stretching surface.The study considers the effects of frictional heating(viscous dissipation) and internal heat generation or absorption.The basic equations governing the flow and heat transfer are reduced to a set of non-linear ordinary differential equations by applying suitable similarity transformations.The transformed equations are numerically solved by the Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg-45 order method.An analysis is carried out for two different cases of heating processes,namely,variable wall temperature(VWT) and variable heat flux(VHF).The effects of various physical parameters such as the magnetic parameter,the fluid-particle interaction parameter,the unsteady parameter,the Prandtl number,the Eckert number,the number density of dust particles,and the heat source/sink parameter on velocity and temperature profiles are shown in several plots.The effects of the wall temperature gradient function and the wall temperature function are tabulated and discussed.     

Effects of radiation and heat source on MHD flow of a viscoelastic liquid and heat transfer over a stretching sheet

We study the MHD flow and also heat transfer in a viscoelastic liquid over a stretching sheet in the presence of radiation. The stretching of the sheet is assumed to be proportional to the distance from the slit. Two different temperature conditions are studied, namely (i) the sheet with prescribed surface temperature (PST) and (ii) the sheet with prescribed wall heat flux (PHF). The basic boundary layer equations for momentum and heat transfer, which are non-linear partial differential equations, are converted into non-linear ordinary differential equations by means of similarity transformation. The resulting non-linear momentum differential equation is solved exactly. The energy equation in the presence of viscous dissipation (or frictional heating), internal heat generation or absorption, and radiation is a differential equation with variable coefficients, which is transformed to a confluent hypergeometric differential equation using a new variable and using the Rosseland approximation for the radiation. The governing differential equations are solved analytically and the effects of various parameters on velocity profiles, skin friction coefficient, temperature profile and wall heat transfer are presented graphically. The results have possible technological applications in liquid-based systems involving stretchable materials.     

Exact solutions for the incompressible viscous fluid of a porous rotating disk flow

The present paper is concerned with a class of exact solutions to the steady Navier-Stokes equations for the incompressible Newtonian viscous fluid flow motion due to a porous disk rotating with a constant angular speed. The three-dimensional equations of motion are treated analytically yielding derivation of exact solutions with suction and injection through the surface included. The well-known thinning/thickening flow field effect of the suction/injection is better understood from the exact velocity equations obtained. Making use of this solution, analytical formulas corresponding to the permeable wall shear stresses are extracted.Interaction of the resolved flow field with the surrounding temperature is further analyzed via the energy equation. As a result, exact formulas are obtained for the temperature field which take different forms depending on whether suction or injection is imposed on the wall. The impacts of several quantities are investigated on the resulting temperature field. In accordance with the Fourier‘s heat law, a constant heat transfer from the porous disk to the fluid takes place. Although the influence of dissipation varies, suction enhances the heat transfer rate as opposed to the injection.     

Oblique stagnation-point flow and heat transfer towards a shrinking sheet with thermal radiation

An analysis is made of steady two-dimensional oblique stagnation-point flow and radiative heat transfer of an incompressible viscous fluid towards a shrinking sheet which is shrunk in its own plane with a velocity proportional to the distance from a fixed point. Here the axis of the stagnation flow and that of the shrinking sheet are not aligned. A similarity transformation reduces the Navier-Stokes equations to a set of non-linear ordinary differential equations and are solved numerically using a shooting technique. The analysis of the results obtained shows that multiple solutions exist for a certain range of the ratio of the shrinking velocity to the free stream velocity. The effect of non-alignment for the wall shear stress and the horizontal velocity components are discussed. Streamline patterns are also shown for shrinking at the sheet with aligned and non-aligned cases. It is found that the temperature at a point in the fluid decreases with increase in effective Prandtl number (Pr _eff ). The results pertaining to the present study indicate that as Pr _eff increases, the rate of heat transfer also increases. The reported results are in good agreement with the available published work in the literature.     

Effect of slip velocity on Casson thin film flow and heat transfer due to unsteady stretching sheet in presence of variable heat flux and viscous dissipation

The aim of the present paper is to study flow and heat transfer characteristics of a viscous Casson thin film flow over an unsteady stretching sheet subject to variable heat flux in the presence of slip velocity condition and viscous dissipation. The governing equations are partial differential equations. They are reduced to a set of highly nonlinear ordinary differential equations by suitable similarity transformations. The resulting similarity equations are solved numerically with a shooting method. Comparisons with previous works are made, and the results are found to be in excellent agreement. In the present work, the effects of the unsteadiness parameter, the Casson parameter, the Eckert number, the slip velocity parameter, and the Prandtl number on flow and heat transfer characteristics are discussed. Also, the local skin-friction coefficient and the local Nusselt number at the stretching sheet are computed and discussed.     

Magneto-hydrodynamic mixed convection of a power-law fluid past a stretching surface in the presence of thermal radiation and internal heat generation/absorption

The problem of magneto-hydrodynamic mixed convective flow and heat transfer of an electrically conducting, power-law fluid past a stretching surface in the presence of heat generation/absorption and thermal radiation has been analyzed. After transforming the governing equations with suitable dimensionless variables, numerical solutions are generated by an implicit finite-difference technique for the non-similar, coupled flow. The solution is found to be dependent on the governing parameters including the power-law fluid index, the magnetic field parameter, the modified Richardson number, the radiation parameter, the heat generation parameter, and the generalized Prandtl number. To reveal the tendency of the solutions, typical results for the velocity and temperature profiles, the skin-friction coefficient, and the local Nusselt number are presented for different values of these controlling parameters.     

Transient free convection flow of an incompressible viscous dissipative fluid

A finite-difference solution of transient free convection flow of a viscous dissipative fluid past an infinite vertical plate, on taking into account viscous dissipative heat is presented. Velocity profiles, temperature profiles are shown for different values of Pr, the Prandtl number and E, the Eckert number. The numerical values of the skin-friction and the rate of heat transfer are entered in a Table. It is observed that greater viscous dissipative heat causes a rise in the velocity, temperature and the skin-friction and a fall in the rate of heat transfer. An increase in Pr leads to a fall in the velocity, temperature and the skin-friction but the rate of heat transfer increases with increasing Pr.     

Mixed convection heat transfer over a non-linear stretching surface with variable fluid properties

This article presents a numerical solution for the steady two-dimensional mixed convection MHD flow of an electrically conducting viscous fluid over a vertical stretching sheet, in its own plane. The stretching velocity and the transverse magnetic field are assumed to vary as a power function of the distance from the origin. The temperature dependent fluid properties, namely, the fluid viscosity and the thermal conductivity are assumed to vary, respectively, as an inverse function of the temperature and a linear function of the temperature. A generalized similarity transformation is introduced to study the influence of temperature dependent fluid properties. The transformed boundary layer equations are solved numerically, using a finite difference scheme known as Keller Box method, for several sets of values of the physical parameters, namely, the stretching parameter, the temperature dependent viscosity parameter, the magnetic parameter, the mixed convection parameter, the temperature dependent thermal conductivity parameter and the Prandtl number. The numerical results thus obtained for the flow and heat transfer characteristics reveal many interesting behaviors. These behaviors warrant further study of the effects of the physical parameters on the flow and heat transfer characteristics. Here it may be noted that, in the case of the classical Navier-Stokes fluid flowing past a horizontal stretching sheet, McLeod and Rajagopal (1987) [42] showed that there exist an unique solution to the problem. This may not be true in the present case. Hence we would like to explore the non-uniqueness of the solution and present the findings in the subsequent paper.     

DTM-BF method and dual solutions for unsteady MHD flow over permeable shrinking sheet with velocity slip

An unsteady magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) boundary layer flow over a shrinking permeable sheet embedded in a moving viscous electrically conducting fluid is investigated both analytically and numerically. The velocity slip at the solid surface is taken into account in the boundary conditions. A novel analytical method named DTMBF is proposed and used to get the approximate analytical solutions to the nonlinear governing equation along with the boundary conditions at infinity. All analytical results are compared with those obtained by a numerical method. The comparison shows good agreement, which validates the accuracy of the DTM-BF method. Moreover, the existence ranges of the dual solutions and the unique solution for various parameters are obtained. The effects of the velocity slip parameter, the unsteadiness parameter, the magnetic parameter, the suction/injection parameter, and the velocity ratio parameter on the skin friction, the unique velocity, and the dual velocity profiles are explored, respectively.     

Thin film flow and heat transfer on an unsteady stretching sheet with internal heating

This research studied the influence of internal heat generation on flow and heat transfer in a thin liquid film on an unsteady stretching sheet. The velocity and temperature fields were solved using the Homotopy Analysis Method (HAM), taking a general surface temperature into consideration. The analytical series solution are presented and the numerical results obtained are tabulated. The effects of unsteadiness parameter, Prandtl number and temperature-dependent parameter in this study are discussed and presented graphically via the velocity and temperature profiles.     

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.     

Effect of Hall current on MHD mixed convection boundary layer flow over a stretched vertical flat plate

In this paper, the steady magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) mixed convection boundary layer flow of an incompressible, viscous and electrically conducting fluid over a stretching vertical flat plate is theoretically investigated with Hall effects taken into account. The governing equations are solved numerically using an implicit finite-difference scheme known as the Keller-box method. The effects of the magnetic parameter, the Hall parameter and the buoyancy parameter on the velocity profiles, the cross flow velocity profiles and the temperature profiles are presented graphically and discussed. Investigated results indicate that the Hall effect on the temperature is small, and the magnetic field and Hall currents produce opposite effects on the shear stress and the heat transfer at the stretching surface.