Unsteady three‐dimensional boundary layer flow due to a stretching surface in a micropolar fluid

In this paper, the unsteady three‐dimensional boundary layer flow due to a stretching surface in a viscous and incompressible micropolar fluid is considered. The partial differential equations governing the unsteady laminar boundary layer flow are solved numerically using an implicit finite‐difference scheme. The numerical solutions are obtained which are uniformly valid for all dimensionless time from initial unsteady‐state flow to final steady‐state flow in the whole spatial region. The equations for the initial unsteady‐state flow are also solved analytically. It is found that there is a smooth transition from the small‐time solution to the large‐time solution. The features of the flow for different values of the governing parameters are analyzed and discussed. The solutions of interest for the skin friction coefficient with various values of the stretching parameter c and material parameter K are presented. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Magnetohydrodynamic stagnation-point flow of a power-law fluid towards a stretching surface

Steady two-dimensional stagnation-point flow of an electrically conducting power-law fluid over a stretching surface is investigated when the surface is stretched in its own plane with a velocity proportional to the distance from the stagnation-point. We have discussed the uniqueness of the solution except when the ratio of free stream velocity and stretching velocity is equal to 1. The effect of magnetic field on the flow characteristic is explored numerically and it is concluded that the velocity at a point decreases/increases with increase in the magnetic field when the free stream velocity is less/greater than the stretching velocity. It is further observed that for a given value of magnetic parameter M, the dimensionless shear stress coefficient |F^″(0)| increases with increase in power-law index n when the value of the ratio of free stream velocity and stretching velocity is close to 1 but not equal to 1. But when the value of this ratio further differs from 1, the variation of |F^″(0)| with n is non-monotonic.     

Boundary layer flow and heat transfer over an unsteady stretching vertical surface

The solution to the unsteady mixed convection boundary layer flow and heat transfer problem due to a stretching vertical surface is presented in this paper. The unsteadiness in the flow and temperature fields is caused by the time-dependent of the stretching velocity and the surface temperature. The governing partial differential equations with three independent variables are first transformed into ordinary differential equations, before they are solved numerically by a finite-difference scheme. The effects of the unsteadiness parameter, buoyancy parameter and Prandtl number on the flow and heat transfer characteristics are thoroughly examined. Both assisting and opposing buoyant flows are considered. It is observed that for assisting flow, the solutions exist for all values of buoyancy parameter, whereas for opposing flow, they exist only if the magnitude of the buoyancy parameter is small. Comparison with known results for steady-state flow is excellent.     

Stagnation-point flow of a viscoelastic fluid towards a stretching surface

An analysis is made of the steady two-dimensional stagnation-point flow of an incompressible viscoelastic fluid over a flat deformable surface when the surface is stretched in its own plane with a velocity proportional to the distance from the stagnation-point. It is shown that for a viscoelastic fluid of short memory (obeying Walters’ B′ model), a boundary layer is formed when the stretching velocity of the surface is less than the inviscid free-stream velocity and velocity at a point increases with increase in the elasticity of the fluid. On the other hand, an inverted boundary layer is formed when the surface stretching velocity exceeds the velocity of the free stream and the velocity decreases with increase in the elasticity of the fluid. A novel result of the analysis is that the flow near the stretching surface is that corresponding to an inviscid stagnation-point flow when the surface stretching velocity is equal to the velocity of the free stream. Temperature distribution in the boundary layer is found when the surface is held at constant temperature and surface heat flux is determined. It is found that temperature at a point decreases with increase in the elasticity of the fluid.     

Momentum and heat transfer in the magnetohydrodynamic stagnation-point flow of a viscoelastic fluid toward a stretching surface

An analysis is made of the steady two-dimensional stagnation-point flow of an incompressible viscoelastic fluid over a flat deformable surface when the surface is stretched in its own plane with a velocity proportional to the distance from the stagnation-point. It is shown that for a viscoelastic conducting fluid of short memory (obeying Walters’ Bʹ model), a boundary layer is formed when the stretching velocity of the surface is less than the inviscid free-stream velocity and velocity at a point increases with increase in the Hartmann number. On the other hand an inverted boundary layer is formed when the surface stretching velocity exceeds the velocity of the free stream and the velocity decreases with increase in the Hartmann number. A novel result of the analysis is that the flow near the stretching surface is that corresponding to an inviscid stagnation-point flow when the surface stretching velocity is equal to the velocity of the free stream. Temperature distribution in the boundary layer is found when the surface is held at constant temperature and surface heat flux is determined. It is found that in the absence of viscous and Ohmic dissipation and strain energy in the flow, temperature at a point decreases with increase in the Hartmann number.     

Slip flow due to a stretching cylinder

The slip flow due to a stretching cylinder is studied. A similarity transform reduces the Navier-Stokes equations to a set of non-linear ordinary differential equations. Asymptotic solutions for large Reynolds number and small slip show the problem can be related to the existing two-dimensional stretching cases. Due to algebraic decay, the equations are further transformed through a compressed variable, and then integrated numerically. It is found that slip greatly reduces the magnitudes of the velocities and the shear stress.     

MHD rotating flow of a viscous fluid over a shrinking surface

This study is concerned with the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) rotating boundary layer flow of a viscous fluid caused by the shrinking surface. Homotopy analysis method (HAM) is employed for the analytic solution. The similarity transformations have been used for reducing the partial differential equations into a system of two coupled ordinary differential equations. The series solution of the obtained system is developed and convergence of the results are explicitly given. The effects of the parameters M, s and λ on the velocity fields are presented graphically and discussed. It is worth mentioning here that for the shrinking surface the stable and convergent solutions are possible only for MHD flows.     

Stagnation point flow of a micropolar fluid towards a stretching sheet

The steady two-dimensional stagnation point flow of an incompressible micropolar fluid over a stretching sheet when the sheet is stretched in its own plane with a velocity proportional to the distance from the stagnation point, has been studied in this paper. The resulting equations of non-linear ordinary coupled differential equations are solved numerically using the Keller-box method. The results obtained for velocity, microrotation and skin friction are shown in tables and graphs. Comparison with the recent results of Mahapatra and Gupta {Heat Mass Transfer 38 (2002) 517} for the corresponding problem of a viscous fluid (K=0) has been done and it has been shown that the results are in excellent agreement.     

Unsteady flow of a fourth-grade fluid due to an oscillating plate

The governing non-linear high-order, sixth-order in space and third-order in time, differential equation is constructed for the unsteady flow of an incompressible conducting fourth-grade fluid in a semi-infinite domain. The unsteady flow is induced by a periodically oscillating two-dimensional infinite porous plate with suction/blowing, located in a uniform magnetic field. It is shown that by augmenting additional boundary conditions at infinity based on asymptotic structures and transforming the semi-infinite physical space to a bounded computational domain by means of a coordinate transformation, it is possible to obtain numerical solutions of the non-linear magnetohydrodynamic equation. In particular, due to the unsymmetry of the boundary conditions, in numerical simulations non-central difference schemes are constructed and employed to approximate the emerging higher-order spatial derivatives. Effects of material parameters, uniform suction or blowing past the porous plate, exerted magnetic field and oscillation frequency of the plate on the time-dependent flow, especially on the boundary layer structure near the plate, are numerically analysed and discussed. The flow behaviour of the fourth-grade non-Newtonian fluid is also compared with those of the Newtonian fluid.     

Flow of a micropolar fluid due to a porous stretching sheet and heat transfer

The present work investigates the micropolar fluid flow due to a permeable stretching sheet and the resulting heat transfer. Unlike the existing numerical works on the flow phenomenon in the literature, the prime interest here is to analytically work out shape of the solutions and identify whether they are unique. Indeed, unique solutions are detected and presented in the exact formulas for the associated boundary layer equations. Temperature field influenced by the microrotation is also mathematically resolved in the cases of constant wall temperature, constant heat flux and Newtonian heating. To discover the salient physical features of many mechanisms acting on the considered problem, it is adequate to have the analytical velocity and temperature fields and also closed-form skin friction/couple stress/heat transfer coefficients, all as given in the current paper. For instance, the practically significant rate of heat transfer is represented by a single formula valid for all three temperature cases.     

Hydromagnetic flow in a viscoelastic fluid due to the oscillatory stretching surface

An analysis is carried out to study the unsteady magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) two-dimensional boundary layer flow of a second grade viscoelastic fluid over an oscillatory stretching surface. The flow is induced due to an infinite elastic sheet which is stretched back and forth in its own plane. For the investigated problem, the governing equations are reduced to a non-linear partial differential equation by means of similarity transformations. This equation is solved both by a newly developed analytic technique, namely homotopy analysis method (HAM) and by a numerical method employing the finite difference scheme, in which a coordinate transformation is employed to transform the semi-infinite physical space to a bounded computational domain. The results obtained by means of both methods are then compared and show an excellent agreement. The effects of various parameters like visco-elastic parameter, the Hartman number and the relative frequency amplitude of the oscillatory sheet to the stretching rate on the velocity field are graphically illustrated and analysed. The values of wall shear stress for these parameters are also tabulated and discussed.     

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.     

Fluid flow in a rotating cylindrical container with a rotating disk at the fluid surface

Fluid flow in a rotating cylindrical container of radius R_w and height H with a co-axially rotating disk of radius R_d at the fluid surface is numerically investigated. The container and the disk rotate with angular velocities Ω_w and Ω_d, respectively. We solve the axisymmetric Navier-Stokes equations using a finite-volume method. The effects of the relative directions and magnitudes of the disk and container rotations are studied. The calculations are carried out with various ratios of Ω_w and Ω_d for H/R_w = 2 and R_d/R_w = 0.7. Streamlines and velocity vectors in the meridional plane and azimuthal velocities are obtained. The flow fields in the meridional plane are discussed with relation to azimuthal velocities in the interior of the container. The numerical results are also compared with experimental data.     

Liquid film flow due to an unsteady stretching sheet

We have studied two-dimensional flow of a thin liquid film over an impulsively stretching sheet under assumption of uniform initial film thickness. Using singular perturbation technique both momentum and film evolution equations are solved analytically for small Reynolds number and these solutions are verified numerically. Numerical computation for large Reynolds number shows an anomalous behaviour of film thinning rate in different time zone. These results are explained physically and the crucial role-played by viscosity in this case is highlighted. It is found that faster rate of thinning can be obtained if the sheet is stretched impulsively with continuously increasing stretching speed.     

Formation of the free surface of a viscous fluid volume inside a rotating horizontal cylinder

Two-dimensional viscous flow with a free surface in a horizontal cylinder rotating at a constant speed is investigated numerically using the boundary element method. It is shown that in the initial stage of rotation of the cylinder four different variants of the behavior of the free surface can be realized in the stage of transition from horizontal to steady-state form.     

Unsteady flow of viscoelastic fluid with fractional Maxwell model in a channel

The unsteady flow of viscoelastic fluid with the fractional derivative Maxwell model (FDMM) in a channel is studied in this note. The exact solutions are obtained for an arbitrary pressure gradient by means of the finite Fourier cosine transform and the Laplace transform. Two special cases of pressure gradient are discussed. Some results given by the classical models with integer-order are included in this note.     

Unsteady compressible boundary layer flow in the stagnation region of a sphere with a magnetic field

Summary An analysis is performed to study the unsteady compressible laminar boundary layer flow in the forward stagnation-point region of a sphere with a magnetic field applied normal to the surface. We have considered the case where there is an initial steady state that is perturbed by the step change in the total enthalpy at the wall. The nonlinear coupled parabolic partial differential equations governing the flow and heat transfer have been solved numerically using a finite-difference scheme. The numerical results are presented, which show the temporal development of the boundary layer. The magnetic field in the presence of variable electrical conductivity causes an overshoot in the velocity profile. Also, when the total enthalpy at the wall is suddenly increased, there is a change in the direction of transfer of heat in a small interval of time. Received 15 January 1996; accepted for publication 21 November 1996     

Boundary layer flow and heat transfer of a dusty fluid flow over a stretching sheet with non-uniform heat source/sink

The present paper deals with the analysis of boundary layer flow and heat transfer of a dusty fluid over a stretching sheet with the effect of non-uniform heat source/sink. Here we consider two types of heating processes namely (i) prescribed surface temperature and (ii) prescribed surface heat flux. The momentum and thermal boundary layer equations of motion are solved numerically using Runge Kutta Fehlberg fourth–fifth order method (RKF45 Method). The effects of fluid particle interaction parameter, Eckert number, Prandtl number, Number of dust particle and non-uniform heat generation/absorption parameter on temperature distribution are analyzed and also the effect of wall temperature gradient function and wall temperature function are tabulated and discussed.