Abstract
A numerical investigation is performed to study the effect of thermal radiation on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) free convection flow along a vertical flat plate in presence of variable thermal conductivity in this paper. The governing equations of the flow and the boundary conditions are transformed into dimensionless form using appropriate similarity transformations and then solved employing the implicit finite difference method with Keller-box scheme. Results for the details of the velocity profiles, temperature distributions as well as the skin friction, the rate of heat transfer and surface temperature distributions are shown graphically. Results reveal that the thermal radiation is more significant in MHD natural convection flow during thermal conductivity effect is considered. To illustrate the accuracy of the present results, the results for the local skin fraction and surface temperature distribution excluding the extension effects are compared with results of Merkin and Pop designed for the fixed value of Prandtl number and a good agreement were found.
Highlights
The physical phenomenon of free convection flow is driven by temperature difference
To illustrate the accuracy of the present results, the results for the local skin fraction and surface temperature distribution excluding the extension effects are compared with results of Merkin and Pop designed for the fixed value of Prandtl number and a good agreement were found
Radiation effects on MHD free convection flow and heat transfer are important in the context of space technology
Summary
The physical phenomenon of free convection flow is driven by temperature difference. The buoyancy effects are important in free convection flow of viscous incompressible electrically conducting fluid. Soundalgekar and Takhar [1] studied the effect of radiation on MHD free convection flow of a gas past a sami-infinite vertical plate using the Cogley-vincenti-Giles equilibrium model (Cogley et al [2]). Hossain and Takhar [3] employed implicit finite difference methods to analyze the effect radiation on mixed convection flow along a heated vertical flat plate with a uniform free stream and a uniform surface temperature. Abd El-Naby et al [5] studied the radiation effects on MHD unsteady free convection flow over a vertical plate with variable surface temperature. Badruddin et al [6] explored the effect of radiation and viscous dissipation on natural convection flow in a porous medium
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