LAMINAR BOUNDARY LAYER FLOW OF A NON-NEWTONIAN POWER LAW FLUID PAST A MOVING FLAT PLATE

Abstract

The steady, two dimensional laminar boundary layer flow of non- Newtonian power-law fluid passing through a continuously moving flat plate under the influence of transverse magnetic field is analyzed. The non-linear partial differential equations governing the flow are transformed into a nonlinear ordinary differential equation using appropriate similarity transformations. This nonlinear ordinary differential equation is linearized by using Quasilinearization technique and then solved numerically by using implicit finite difference scheme. The system of algebraic equations is solved by using Thomson algorithm. The solution is found to be dependent on various governing parameters including magnetic field parameter M, power-law index n and velocity ratio parameter ε. A systematical study is carried out to illustrate the effects of these major parameters on the velocity profiles. It is found that dual solutions exists when the plate and the fluid move in opposite directions, near the region of separation.