Effects of Variable Fluid Properties on MHD Flow and Heat Transfer over a Stretching Sheet with Variable Thickness

Abstract

AbstractThe influence of temperature-dependent fluid properties on flow and heat transfer of an electrically conducting fluid over a stretching sheet with variable thickness in the presence of a transverse magnetic field is analyzed. Using similarity transformations, the governing coupled non-linear partial differential equations (momentum and energy equations) are transformed into a system of coupled non-linear ordinary differential equations and are solved numerically by Keller-box method. For increasing values of the wall thickness parameter, the analysis reveals quite interesting flow and heat transfer patterns. The effects of the temperature dependent viscosity, the wall velocity power index, the thermal conductivity, the wall temperature parameter and the Prandtl number on the flow and temperature fields are presented. The obtained numerical results are compared with the available results in the literature for some special cases and are found to be in excellent agreement. The skin friction and the wall temperature gradient are presented for different values of the physical parameters and the salient features are analyzed.