Flow Past an Impulsively Started Semi-infinite Flat Plate in the Presence of a Magnetic Field

Abstract

The solution of the motion of a viscous electrically conducting fluid past a semi-infinite flat plate, which is started impulsively from rest with a constant velocity parallel to itself, in the presence of an applied magnetic field which is parallel to the plate at infinity, is investigated. The governing partial differential equations can be written in similarity form and reduced to a set of coupled, non-linear, singular parabolic partial differential equations. Numerical methods have been developed previously which deal with uncoupled equations. The analytical work for large time indicates that the steady state solution is approached exponentially when the equations uncouple but a simple extension of this analysis is not possible when the equations are coupled.