Effects of chemical reaction, heat and mass transfer on an unsteady mixed convection boundary layer flow over a wedge with heat generation/absorption in the presence of suction or injection

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to study the effects of chemical reaction, heat and mass transfer on an unsteady mixed convection boundary layer flow over a vertical wedge with heat generation/absorption in the presence of uniform suction or injection. The fluid is assumed to be viscous and incompressible. The unsteadiness is caused by the time dependent free stream velocity varying arbitrarily with time. Both accelerating and decelerating free stream flows are considered. Non-similar solutions are obtained numerically by using an implicit finite difference scheme in combination with the quasi-linearization technique. Numerical computations are carried out for different values of dimensionless parameters on velocity, temperature and concentration profiles graphically reported in the present study. Also, numerical results are presented for the local skin friction coefficient, the local Nusselt number and the local Sherwood number. Results indicate that the time effect is crucial on velocity, temperature and concentration profiles, and on the local skin friction coefficient, the local Nusselt and Sherwood numbers. The buoyancy assisting force causes overshoot in the velocity profile for lower Prandtl number fluids. Results are compared with previously published work and are found to be in an excellent agreement.