Chebyshev finite difference method for heat and mass transfer in a hydromagnetic flow of a micropolar fluid past a stretching surface with Ohmic heating and viscous dissipation

Abstract

Numerical solutions are obtained for the problem which involves both the heat and mass transfer in a hydromagnetic flow of a micropolar fluid past a stretching surface with Ohmic heating and viscous dissipation using Chebyshev finite difference method (ChFD). A similarity transformation was employed to change the governing momentum, angular momentum, energy, and concentration partial differential equations into ordinary ones. Numerical calculations have been carried out for various values of magnetic field parameter, material parameter, Prandtl number, Eckert number, Schmidt number, couple stress at the surface, local Nusselt number and Sherwood number. The numerical results indicate that the temperature and the concentration increase, while the velocities, the Nusselt number and the Sherwood number decrease with increasing magnetic field parameter. In all of the above results, the material parameter has the opposite effect of magnetic field parameter. The temperature increases with increasing Eckert number, and decreases with increasing Prandtl number. An increase in the Schmidt number gives an increase in the Sherwood number, or a decrease in the concentration. © 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.