Numerical Study of a Williamson Fluid Past a Semi-Infinite Vertical Plate with Convective Heating and Radiation Effects

Abstract

In the present paper, we investigated mathematical model of the magnetohydrodynamic flow and heat transfer in an electro-conductive polymer on the externalsurface of a semi-infinite vertical plate under radial magnetic field. Thermal radiation andconvective heating effects are considered at the semi-infinite plate surface with modifiedboundary conditions. The Williamson viscoelastic model is employed which isrepresentative of certain industrial polymers. The non-dimensional, transformedboundary layer equations for momentum and energy are solved with the second orderaccurate implicit Keller box finite difference method under appropriate boundaryconditions. Validation of the numerical solutions is achieved via benchmarking withearlier published results. The influence of Williamson viscoelastic fluid parameter,magnetic body force parameter, convective heating, radiation parameter, stream wisevariable and Prandtl number on thermos-fluid characteristics are studied graphically. Themodel is relevant to the simulation of magnetic polymer materials processing.