The effect of variable viscosity on MHD viscoelastic fluid flow and heat transfer over a stretching sheet

An analysis has been carried out to study the momentum and heat transfer characteristics in an incompressible electrically conducting non-Newtonian boundary layer flow of a viscoelastic fluid over a stretching sheet. The partial differential equations governing the flow and heat transfer characteristics are converted into highly non-linear coupled ordinary differential equations by similarity transformations. The effect of variable fluid viscosity, Magnetic parameter, Prandtl number, variable thermal conductivity, heat source/sink parameter and thermal radiation parameter are analyzed for velocity, temperature fields, and wall temperature gradient. The resultant coupled highly non-linear ordinary differential equations are solved numerically by employing a shooting technique with fourth order Runge–Kutta integration scheme. The fluid viscosity and thermal conductivity, respectively, assumed to vary as an inverse and linear function of temperature. The analysis reveals that the wall temperature profile decreases significantly due to increase in magnetic field parameter. Further, it is noticed that the skin friction of the sheet decreases due to increase in the Magnetic parameter of the flow characteristics.     

Mixed convection in the stagnation-point flow of a Maxwell fluid towards a vertical stretching surface

In the present analysis, we study the steady mixed convection boundary layer flow of an incompressible Maxwell fluid near the two-dimensional stagnation-point flow over a vertical stretching surface. It is assumed that the stretching velocity and the surface temperature vary linearly with the distance from the stagnation-point. The governing nonlinear partial differential equations have been reduced to the coupled nonlinear ordinary differential equations by the similarity transformations. Analytical and numerical solutions of the derived system of equations are developed. The homotopy analysis method (HAM) and finite difference scheme are employed in constructing the analytical and numerical solutions, respectively. Comparison between the analytical and numerical solutions is given and found to be in excellent agreement. Both cases of assisting and opposing flows are considered. The influence of the various interesting parameters on the flow and heat transfer is analyzed and discussed through graphs in detail. The values of the local Nusselt number for different physical parameters are also tabulated. Comparison of the present results with known numerical results of viscous fluid is shown and a good agreement is observed.     

Heat transfer in MHD viscoelastic boundary layer flow over a stretching sheet with thermal radiation and non-uniform heat source/sink

An analysis has been carried out to study the flow and heat transfer characteristics for MHD viscoelastic boundary layer flow over an impermeable stretching sheet with space and temperature dependent internal heat generation/absorption (non-uniform heat source/sink), viscous dissipation, thermal radiation and magnetic field due to frictional heating. The flow is generated due to linear stretching of the sheet and influenced by uniform magnetic field, which is applied vertically in the flow region. The governing partial differential equations for the flow and heat transfer are transformed into ordinary differential equations by a suitable similarity transformation. The governing equations with the appropriate conditions are solved exactly. The effects of viscoelastic parameter and magnetic parameter on skin friction and the effects of viscous dissipation, non-uniform heat source/sink and the thermal radiation on heat transfer characteristics for two general cases namely, the prescribed surface temperature (PST) case and the prescribed wall heat flux (PHF) case are presented graphically and discussed. The numerical results for the wall temperature gradient (the Nusselt number) are presented in tables and are discussed.     

Effects of thermal radiation on the boundary layer flow of a Jeffrey fluid over an exponentially stretching surface

In the present investigation we have analyzed the boundary layer flow of a Jeffrey fluid over an exponentially stretching surface. The effects of thermal radiation are carried out for two cases of heat transfer analysis known as (1) Prescribed exponential order surface temperature (PEST) and (2) Prescribed exponential order heat flux (PEHF). The highly nonlinear coupled partial differential equations of Jeffrey fluid flow along with the energy equation are simplified by using similarity transformation techniques based on boundary layer assumptions. The reduced similarity equations are then solved analytically by the homotopy analysis method (HAM). The convergence of the HAM series solution is obtained by plotting (^h/_2p)\hbar-curves for velocity and temperature. The effects of physical parameters on the velocity and temperature profiles are examined by plotting graphs.     

Heat transfer in a Walter’s liquid B fluid over an impermeable stretching sheet with non-uniform heat source/sink and elastic deformation

In this present article an analysis is carried out to study the boundary layer flow behavior and heat transfer characteristics in Walter’s liquid B fluid flow. The stretching sheet is assumed to be impermeable, the effects of viscous dissipation, non-uniform heat source/sink in the presence and in the absence of elastic deformation (which was escaped from attention of researchers while formulating the viscoelastic boundary layer flow problems)on heat transfer are addressed. 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. Analytical solutions are obtained for the resulting boundary value problems. The effects of viscous dissipation, Prandtl number, Eckert number and non-uniform heat source/sink on heat transfer (in the presence and in the absence of elastic deformation) are shown in several plots and discussed. Analytical expressions for the wall frictional drag coefficient, non-dimensional wall temperature gradient and non-dimensional wall temperature are obtained and are tabulated for various values of the governing parameters. The present study reveals that, the presence of work done by deformation in the energy equation yields an augment in the fluid’s temperature.     

A general class of coupled nonlinear differential equations arising in self-similar solutions of convective heat transfer problems

We establish existence and uniqueness results for a general class of coupled nonlinear third order differential equations arising in flow and heat transfer problems. We consider solutions over the semi-infinite interval. As special cases, we recover the existence and uniqueness results of solutions for the following physically meaningful scenarios (among others): (i) flow and heat transfer over a stretching sheet, (ii) flow and heat transfer over a nonlinearly stretching porous sheet, (iii) linear convective flow and heat transfer over a porous nonlinearly stretching sheet and (iv) nonlinear convective heat transfer over a porous nonlinearly stretching sheet. In all the cases the effects of viscous dissipation and the internal heat generation/absorption on the flow and heat transfer characteristics are included. Moreover, the obtained results are applicable to several problems dealing with flow and heat transfer phenomena.     

Stagnation slip flow and heat transfer over a nonlinear stretching sheet

Stagnation slip flow and heat transfer characteristics of a viscous fluid over a nonlinear stretching surface has been investigated. The governing partial differential equations are transformed to nonlinear ordinary differential equations using similarity transformations. The analytical solution of the nonlinear system is obtained in series form using the very efficient homotopy analysis method (HAM). Convergence of the series solution is shown explicitly. Important features of flow and heat transfer characteristics are plotted and discussed. Comparison is made with existing numerical results when the stagnation‐point and slip effects are excluded. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2011     

Heat transfer in MHD viscoelastic boundary layer flow over a stretching sheet with non-uniform heat source/sink

This paper presents the study of momentum and heat transfer characteristics in a hydromagnetic flow of viscoelastic liquid over a stretching sheet with non-uniform heat source, where the flow is generated due to a linear stretching of the sheet and influenced by uniform magnetic field applied vertically. Here an analysis has been carried out to study the effect of magnetic field on the visco-elastic liquid flow and heat transfer over a stretching sheet with non-uniform heat source. The non-linear boundary layer equation for momentum is converted into ordinary differential equation by means of similarity transformation and is solved exactly. Heat transfer differential equation is also solved analytically. The effect of magnetic field on velocity, skin friction and temperature profiles are presented graphically and discussed.     

MHD power-law fluid flow and heat transfer over a non-isothermal stretching sheet

This article presents a numerical solution for the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) non-Newtonian power-law fluid flow over a semi-infinite non-isothermal stretching sheet with internal heat generation/absorption. The flow is caused by linear stretching of a sheet from an impermeable wall. Thermal conductivity is assumed to vary linearly with temperature. The governing partial differential equations of momentum and energy are converted into ordinary differential equations by using a classical similarity transformation along with appropriate boundary conditions. The intricate coupled non-linear boundary value problem has been solved by Keller box method. It is important to note that the momentum and thermal boundary layer thickness decrease with increase in the power-law index in presence/absence of variable thermal conductivity.     

Investigation of a powerful analytical method into natural convection boundary layer flow

The natural convection boundary layer flow modeled by a system of nonlinear differential equations is considered. By means of similarity transformation, the non-linear partial differential equations are reduced to a system of two coupled ordinary differential equations. The series solutions of coupled system of equations are constructed for velocity and temperature using homotopy analysis method (HAM). Convergence of the obtained series solution is discussed. Finally some figures are illustrated to show the accuracy of the applied method and assessment of various prandtl numbers on the temperature and the velocity is undertaken.     

Unsteady flow and heat transfer of a second grade fluid over a stretching sheet

The problem of unsteady boundary layer flow of a second grade over a stretching sheet is investigated in this paper. The governing equations of motion are reduced into a partial differential equation with two independent variables by using similarity transformations. The heat transfer analysis has been also carried out for two heating processes namely the prescribed surface temperature (PST case) and prescribed surface heat flux (PHF case). The series solutions of the problem are developed by employing homotopy analysis method (HAM). Convergence of the obtained series solutions are analyzed. It is noted that the present solutions of a second grade are valid for all dimensionless times. Finally, the results are obtained and discussed through graphs for various parameters of interest.     

Group solution for unsteady free-convection flow from a vertical moving plate subjected to constant heat flux

The problem of heat and mass transfer in an unsteady free-convection flow over a continuous moving vertical sheet in an ambient fluid is investigated for constant heat flux using the group theoretical method. The nonlinear coupled partial differential equation governing the flow and the boundary conditions are transformed to a system of ordinary differential equations with appropriate boundary conditions. The obtained ordinary differential equations are solved numerically using the shooting method. The effect of Prandlt number on the velocity and temperature of the boundary-layer is plotted in curves. A comparison with previous work is presented.     

Finite element solution of double-diffusive boundary layer flow of viscoelastic nanofluids over a stretching sheet

This paper deals with the double-diffusive boundary layer flow of non-Newtonian nanofluid over a stretching sheet. In this model, where binary nanofluid is used, the Brownian motion and thermophoresis are classified as the main mechanisms which are responsible for the enhancement of the convection features of the nanofluid. The boundary layer equations governed by the partial differential equations are transformed into a set of ordinary differential equations with the help of group theory transformations. The variational finite element method (FEM) is used to solve these ordinary differential equations. We have examined the effects of different controlling parameters, namely, the Brownian motion parameter, the thermophoresis parameter, modified Dufour number, viscoelastic parameter, Prandtl number, regular Lewis number, Dufour Lewis number, and nanofluid Lewis number on the flow field and heat transfer characteristics. Graphical display of the numerical examine are performed to illustrate the influence of various flow parameters on the velocity, temperature, concentration, reduced Nusselt, reduced Sherwood and reduced nanofluid Sherwood number distributions. The present study has many applications in coating and suspensions, movement of biological fluids, cooling of metallic plate, melt-spinning, heat exchangers technology, and oceanography.     

Heat and mass transfer in MHD non-Darcian flow of a micropolar fluid over a stretching sheet embedded in a porous media with non-uniform heat source and thermal radiation

A mathematical analysis has been carried out to study magnetohydrodynamic boundary layer flow, heat and mass transfer characteristic on steady two-dimensional flow of a micropolar fluid over a stretching sheet embedded in a non-Darcian porous medium with uniform magnetic field. Momentum boundary layer equation takes into account of transverse magnetic field whereas energy equation takes into account of Ohmic dissipation due to transverse magnetic field, thermal radiation and non-uniform source effects. An analysis has been performed for heating process namely the prescribed wall heat flux (PHF case). The governing system of partial differential equations is first transformed into a system of non-linear ordinary differential equations using similarity transformation. The transformed equations are non-linear coupled differential equations which are then linearized by quasi-linearization method and solved very efficiently by finite-difference method. Favorable comparisons with previously published work on various special cases of the problem are obtained. The effects of various physical parameters on velocity, temperature, concentration distributions are presented graphically and in tabular form.     

Analytic solutions of unsteady boundary flow and heat transfer on a permeable stretching sheet with non-uniform heat source/sink

In this paper, we study the boundary layer flow and heat transfer on a permeable unsteady stretching sheet with non-uniform heat source/sink. The analytic solutions are obtained by using suitable similarity transformations and homotopy analysis method (HAM). Furthermore, the effects of unsteadiness parameter, Prandtl number and heat source/sink parameter on the dynamics are analyzed and discussed.     

Unsteady convective boundary layer flow of a viscous fluid at a vertical surface with variable fluid properties

In this paper we present numerical solutions to the unsteady convective boundary layer flow of a viscous fluid at a vertical stretching surface with variable transport properties and thermal radiation. Both assisting and opposing buoyant flow situations are considered. Using a similarity transformation, the governing time-dependent partial differential equations are first transformed into coupled, non-linear ordinary differential equations with variable coefficients. Numerical solutions to these equations subject to appropriate boundary conditions are obtained by a second order finite difference scheme known as the Keller-Box method. The numerical results thus obtained are analyzed for the effects of the pertinent parameters namely, the unsteady parameter, the free convection parameter, the suction/injection parameter, the Prandtl number, the thermal conductivity parameter and the thermal radiation parameter on the flow and heat transfer characteristics. It is worth mentioning that the momentum and thermal boundary layer thicknesses decrease with an increase in the unsteady parameter.     

Homotopy analysis method for solving the MHD flow over a non-linear stretching sheet

The problem of the boundary layer flow of an incompressible viscous fluid over a non-linear stretching sheet is considered. Homotopy analysis method (HAM) is applied in order to obtain analytical solution of the governing nonlinear differential equations. The obtained results are finally compared through the illustrative graphs with the exact solution and an approximate method. The compression shows that the HAM is very capable, easy-to-use and applicable technique for solving differential equations with strong nonlinearity. Moreover, choosing a suitable value of none–zero auxiliary parameter as well as considering enough iteration would even lead us to the exact solution so HAM can be widely used in engineering too.     

Combined effects of non-uniform heat source/sink and thermal radiation on heat transfer over an unsteady stretching permeable surface

The present paper is concerned with the study of flow and heat transfer characteristics in the unsteady laminar boundary layer flow of an incompressible viscous fluid over continuously stretching permeable surface in the presence of a non-uniform heat source/sink and thermal radiation. The unsteadiness in the flow and temperature fields is because of the time-dependent stretching velocity and surface temperature. Similarity transformations are used to convert the governing time-dependent nonlinear boundary layer equations for momentum and thermal energy are reduced to a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations containing Prandtl number, non-uniform heat source/sink parameter, thermal radiation and unsteadiness parameter with appropriate boundary conditions. These equations are solved numerically by applying shooting method using Runge–Kutta–Fehlberg method. Comparison of numerical results is made with the earlier published results under limiting cases. The effects of the unsteadiness parameter, thermal radiation, suction/injection parameter, non-uniform heat source/sink parameter on flow and heat transfer characteristics as well as on the local Nusselt number are shown graphically.     

Stagnation-point flow and heat transfer over an exponentially shrinking sheet

An analysis is carried out to investigate the stagnation-point flow and heat transfer over an exponentially shrinking sheet. Using the boundary layer approximation and a similarity transformation in exponential form, the governing mathematical equations are transformed into coupled, nonlinear ordinary differential equations which are then solved numerically by a shooting method with fourth order Runge-Kutta integration scheme. The analysis reveals that a solution exists only when the velocity ratio parameter satisfies the inequality −1.487068 ? c/a. Also, the numerical calculations exhibit the existence of dual solutions for the velocity and the temperature fields; and it is observed that their boundary layers are thinner for the first solution (in comparison with the second). Moreover, the heat transfer from the sheet increases with an increase in c/a for the first solution, while the heat transfer decreases with increasing c/a for the second solution, and ultimately heat absorption occurs.     

Heat transfer in MHD viscoelastic fluid flow over a stretching sheet with variable thermal conductivity,non-uniform heat source and radiation

An analysis has been carried out to study the magnetohydrodynamic boundary layer flow and heat transfer characteristics of a non-Newtonian viscoelastic fluid over a flat sheet with a linear velocity in the presence of thermal radiation and non-uniform heat source. The thermal conductivity is assumed to vary as a linear function of temperature. The basic equations governing the flow and heat transfer are in the form of partial differential equations, the same have been reduced to a set of non-linear ordinary differential equations by applying suitable similarity transformation. The transformed equations are solved analytically by regular perturbation method. Numerical solution of the problem is also obtained by the efficient shooting method, which agrees well with the analytical solution. The effects of various physical parameters such as viscoelastic parameter, Chandrasekhar number, Prandtl number, variable thermal conductivity parameter, Eckert number, thermal radiation parameter and non-uniform heat source/sink parameters which determine the temperature profiles are shown in several plots and the heat transfer coefficient is tabulated for a range of values of said parameters. Some important findings reported in this work reveals that combined effect of variable thermal conductivity, radiation and non-uniform heat source have significant impact in controlling the rate of heat transfer in the boundary layer region.