MATHEMATICAL MODELING OF THERMAL RADIATION EFFECTS ON TRANSIENT GRAVITY-DRIVEN OPTICALLY THICK GRAY CONVECTION FLOW ALONG AN INCLINED PLANE WITH PRESSURE GRADIENT

Abstract

We study theoretically the unsteady gravity-driven thermal convection flow of a viscous incompressible absorbing-emitting gray gas along an inclined plane in the presence of a pressure gradient and significant thermal radiation effects. The Rosseland diffusion flux model is employed to simulate thermal radiation effects. The momentum and energy conservation equations are nondimensionalized and solved exactly using the Laplace transform technique. Expressions are derived for the frictional shearing stress at the inclined plane surface and also the critical Grashof number. The effects of time (T), Grashof number (Gr), Boltzmann-Rosseland radiation parameter (K1), and plate inclination (α) on velocity (u) and temperature (θ) distributions are studied. The flow is found to be accelerated with increasing inclination of the plane, increasing free convection effects, and for greater thermal radiation contribution but decelerated with progression of time. Temperature is found to be enhanced with progression of time and with greater thermal radiation contribution. Applications of the model arise in solar energy collector analysis and industrial materials processing.