Group invariant solutions for the unsteady MHD flow of a third grade fluid in a porous medium

Abstract

This work describes the time-dependent flow of an incompressible non-Newtonian fluid over an infinite rigid plate. The flow is induced due to the arbitrary velocity V(t) of the plate. The fluid occupies the porous half space y>0 and is also electrically conducting in the presence of a constant applied magnetic field in the transverse direction to the flow. Analytical solutions of the governing non-linear partial differential equation for the unidirectional flow of a third grade fluid are established using the symmetry approach. We construct three types of analytical solutions by employing the Lie symmetry method and the better solution from the physical point of view is shown to be the non-travelling wave solution. We also present numerical solutions of the governing PDE and the reduced ODE and compare with the analytical results. Finally, the influence of emerging parameters are studied through several graphs with emphasis on the study of the effects of the magnetic field and non-Newtonian fluid parameters.