Analytical solution for the unsteady MHD flow of a viscous fluid between moving parallel plates

Abstract

Two-dimensional unsteady MHD flow of a viscous fluid between two moving parallel plates is considered. We allow the plates to move together as well as apart: When the plates move together it corresponds to squeezing flow problem. The governing Navier–Stokes equations for the flow are reduced to a fourth order nonlinear ODE and analytical solutions are obtained for the ODE via the homotopy analysis method. We show that the flow is strongly influenced by the strength of the magnetic field and the density of the fluid. Furthermore, an error analysis for the obtained solutions is provided.