Journal of Applied Mathematics
Volume 2003 (2003), Issue 2, Pages 65-86
doi:10.1155/S1110757X0320509X
Finite difference solution of radiation effects on MHD
unsteady free-convection flow over vertical plate with
variable surface temperature
Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Education, Ain Shams University, Roxy, Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt
Received 20 May 2002; Revised 24 September 2002
Copyright © 2003 M. A. Abd El-Naby et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
An analysis is performed to study radiation effects on
magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) unsteady free-convection flow past a semi-infinite vertical plate with variable surface temperature in the presence of transversal uniform magnetic field. The boundary layer equations are transformed into a linear algebraic system by an implicit finite-difference method. A parametric study is performed to illustrate the influence of radiation parameter, magnetic parameter, and Prandtl number on the velocity and temperature profiles. The numerical results reveal that the radiation has significant influences on the velocity and temperature profiles, skin friction, and Nusselt number. The results indicate that the velocity, temperature, and local and average skin friction increase as the radiation parameter increases, while the local and average Nusselt numbers decrease as the radiation parameter increases.