An analysis is made of the flow of an electrically conducting fluid in a channel with constrictions in the presence of a uniform transverse magnetic field. A solution technique for governing magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations in primitive variable formulation is developed. A coordinate stretching is used to map the long irregular geometry into a finite computational domain. The governing equations are discretized using finite difference approximations and the well-known staggered grid of Harlow and Welch is used. Pressure Poisson equation and pressure-velocity correction formulas are derived and solved numerically. It is found that the flow separates downstream of the constriction. With increase in the magnetic field, the flow separation zone diminishes in size and for large magnetic field, the separation zone disappears completely. Wall shear stress increases with increase in the magnetic field strength. It is also found that for symmetrically situated constrictions on the channel walls, the critical Reynolds number for the flow bifurcation (i.e., flow asymmetry) increases with increase in the magnetic field.
An analytical study of the distribution of a reactant solute undergoing a first-order chemical reaction in the boundary layer flow of an electrically conducting incompressible fluid over a linearly shrinking surface is presented. The flow is permeated by an externally applied magnetic field normal to the plane of the flow. The equations governing the flow and concentration field are reduced into a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations using similarity variables. Closed form exact solutions of the reduced concentration equation are obtained for both prescribed power-law surface concentration (PSC) and power-law wall mass flux (PMF) as boundary conditions. The study reveals that the concentration over a shrinking sheet is significantly different from that of a stretching surface. It is found that the solute boundary layer thickness is enhanced with the increasing values of the Schmidt number and the power-law index parameter, but decreases with enhanced values of magnetic and reaction rate parameters for the PSC case. For the PMF case, the solute boundary layer thickness decreases with the increase of the Schmidt number, magnetic and reaction rate parameter for power-law index parameter n = 0. Negative solute boundary layer thickness is observed for the PMF case when n = 1 and 2, and these facts may not be realized in real-world applications.
A numerical simulation has been carried out to study the laminar flow in a symmetric sudden expanded channel subjected to a uniform blowing/suction speed placed at the lower and upper porous step walls. The governing equations for viscous flow have been solved using finite-difference techniques in pressure-velocity formulation. The results obtained here have been compared with the available experimental and numerical results of similar problems. It is noted that the recirculating region formed near the step walls diminishes in its length for increasing values of blowing speed applied at the porous step walls. For a suitable blowing speed, the recirculation zone disappears completely. The critical Reynolds number for the flow bifurcation (i.e. flow asymmetry) is obtained and it increases with the increase of the blowing speed. The critical Reynolds number for symmetry breaking of the flow decreases with the increasing values of suction speeds. The primary and the secondary recirculating regions formed near the channel walls are controlled using blowing.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.