Diffusion of a chemically reactive species of a power-law fluid past a stretching surface

    Authors

    K. Vajravelu; K. V. Prasad;N. S. P. Rao

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Comput. Math. Appl.

    Keywords

    Reactive species; Magnetic field; Power-law fluid; Stretching sheet; Modified Schmidt number; Sherwood number; CONTINUOUS MOVING SURFACE; BOUNDARY-LAYER EQUATIONS; NON-NEWTONIAN; FLUIDS; HEAT-TRANSFER; MASS-TRANSFER; MHD FLOW; MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC; FLOW; CONDUCTING FLUID; POROUS-MEDIUM; SHEET; Mathematics, Applied

    Abstract

    A numerical solution for the steady magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) non-Newtonian power-law fluid flow over a continuously moving surface with species concentration and chemical reaction has been obtained. The viscous flow is driven solely by the linearly stretching sheet, and the reactive species emitted from this sheet undergoes an isothermal and homogeneous one-stage reaction as it diffuses into the surrounding fluid. Using a similarity transformation, the governing non-linear partial differential equations are transformed into coupled nonlinear ordinary differential equations. The governing equations of the mathematical model show that the flow and mass transfer characteristics depend on six parameters, namely, the power-law index, the magnetic parameter, the local Grashof number with respect to species diffusion, the modified Schmidt number, the reaction rate parameter, and the wall concentration parameter. Numerical solutions for these coupled equations are obtained by the Keller Box method, and the solutions obtained are presented through graphs and tables. The numerical results obtained reveal that the magnetic field significantly increases the magnitude of the skin friction, but slightly reduces the mass transfer rate. However, the surface mass transfer strongly depends on the modified Schmidt number and the reaction rate parameter; it increases with increasing values of these parameters. The results obtained reveal many interesting behaviors that warrant further study of the equations related to non-Newtonian fluid phenomena, especially shear-thinning phenomena. Shear thinning reduces the wall shear stress. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

    Journal Title

    Computers & Mathematics with Applications

    Volume

    62

    Issue/Number

    1

    Publication Date

    1-1-2011

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    93

    Last Page

    108

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000292853300009

    ISSN

    0898-1221

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