International Journal of Scientific Research Engineering & Technology (IJSRET), ISSN 2278 0882

Volume 4, Issue 6, June 2015

Boundary Layer Flow and Heat Transfer due to an Exponentially Shrinking

Sheet with Variable Magnetic Field
Rakesh Kumar
Department of Mathematics, Central University of Himachal Pradesh, India
E-Mail: rakesh.lect@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
An analysis is carried out to study the effects of variable magnetic field on the flow field and heat transfer over an
exponentially shrinking sheet. Using the exponential similarity transformations, the governing equations are transformed
into self similar nonlinear ordinary differential equations. The transformed differential equations are solved using a power
series expansion to obtain a closed form solution. The numerical results are depicted through graphs to illustrate the
influence of pertinent parameters of the problem. It is found that suction parameter and magnetic field have substantial
effect on velocity and temperature profiles.
Keywords: Exponentially shrinking sheet, variable magnetic field, Heat transfer.

I.

INTRODUCTION

The study of boundary layer flow and heat transfer over a stretching/shrinking surface has attracted the attention of
several researchers due to its various applications in the fields of technology and industry. The extraction and
manufacturing of polymer sheets, hot rolling and glass-fiber production, paper production, cooling of metallic sheets or
electronic chips, processing of magnetic materials, MHD electrical power generation and purification of crude oil are
some examples for the application of these flows (Fang et al.[1]). In shrinking sheet problems, the surface is stretched
towards a slot, causing a velocity away from the sheet. The physical grounds reveals that vorticity flow over the shrinking
sheet does not remain confined and the flow is unlikely to exist (Lok et al.[2]).
Mahapatra and Nandy [3] in their stability analysis found that an adequate suction or stagnation flow is required to
confine the vorticity with in the boundary layer. Wang [4] during his investigation of liquid film behaviour on an unsteady
stretching sheet observed this unusual flow due to shrinking surface. Miklavcic and Wang [5] obtained the existence and
uniqueness conditions for the similarity solution of viscous fluid over shrinking surfaces and showed that the behaviour of
fluid depends on the externally imposed mass suction. A new of Blasius solution over shrinking sheet was reported by
Fang et al. [6]. Hayat et al. [7] analyzed the three dimensional rotating flow due to a shrinking sheet. Fang [8] also
presented a solution for the boundary layer flow over a shrinking sheet with power law velocity. Fang and Zhang [9]
obtained an analytical solution for the heat transfer over a shrinking sheet. VanGorder and Vajravelu [10] discussed about
the multiple solutions for the MHD flow over a stretching or shrinking sheet. The dual and triple solutions for MHD slip
flow of non-Newtonian fluid over a shrinking surface were obtained by Turkyilmazoglu [11]. Further, the dual solutions
for unsteady stagnation flow over a shrinking sheet were investigated by Bhattacharyya [12].
In the above research paper, the authors consider either linear or non-linear sheets, and there is lesser number of
research papers available in literature for flows over exponentially shrinking surfaces. Moreover, the dynamics of fluid
flows over shrinking surfaces is still unknown. Magyari and Keller [13] are assumed to be the first one to study the
boundary flow over an exponentially stretching sheet. In this sequence, the other paper on the boundary layer flow and
heat transfer over an exponentially shrinking sheet was reported by Bhattacharyya [14]. Bachok et al. [15] considers an
exponentially stretching/shrinking sheet in nanofluids to study the stagnation point flow and corresponding heat transfer.
The stagnation point flow and heat transfer over an exponentially shrinking sheet was investigated by Bhattacharyya and
Vajravelu [16] and was extended by Rohni et al. [17] by considering the effects of free convection and mass suction.
Bhattacharyya et al. [18] in his paper found that a strong magnetic field has predominant effect on the flow field and due
to this; the similarity solution of the flow over a shrinking sheet is always unique. In some of the above said papers the
uniform strength of magnetic field was assumed. But in general, its non-linear characteristics can be utilized to predict and
control the behaviour of fluid flows over shrinking surfaces.
Motivated by this, the objective of the present study is to analyze the effect of variable magnetic field on the flow and heat
transfer of a viscous fluid over an exponentially shrinking sheet.

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Volume 4, Issue 6, June 2015

II.

MATHEMATICAL FORMULATION

A steady two-dimensional boundary layer flow of a viscous, incompressible, electrically conducting fluid is considered
over an exponentially shrinking sheet. A magnetic field of the following exponential type B 0, B y , 0

where B y B0 expx / 2L and B0 is a constant is applied normal to the plane of the sheet. The magnetic Reynolds
number is assumed to be small to neglect the induced magnetic field.
The governing boundary layer equations of the present problem are
Equation of continuity:

u u

0
x y

(1)

Equation of momentum:

2
u
u
2u B y
u
v

u
x
y

y 2

(2)

Equation of energy:

T
T
k 2T
v

x
y C p y 2

(3)

The boundary conditions are given by

u U w x , v v w , T Tw x T T0 expx / 2 L at y 0

u 0,
T 0
as y

(4)

The shrinking sheet velocity U w is given by U w x c exp x / L , where c 0 is shrinking constant. Here , ,
, k , C p L , T0 , Tw and T are the electrical conductivity, kinematic viscosity, density, thermal conductivity,
specific heat at constant pressure, characteristic length of the sheet, mean temperature, temperature of the sheet and
ambient temperature of the fluid respectively.
We introduce the following similarity variables

2 L c f expx / 2L, T T Tw T ,
where is the similarity variable defined by
y

c
2 L

(5)

expx / 2 L

(6)

and is the stream function which is defined in the classical form as u

and v
.Thus we have the
y
x

following expressions as

u c exp x / L f ' and v

c
2L

expx / 2 L f f '

(7)

where prime denotes differentiation with respect to . This suggests that, we can assume

v w x

c
2L

expx / 2 L S ,

(8)

where S 0 is the dimensionless suction parameter.

Using equation (5) to (7) in equations (2) and (3), we obtain the following ordinary differential equations

f ff 2 f 2 2Mf 0
0
Pr f f

(9)
(10)

The boundary conditions transform to

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International Journal of Scientific Research Engineering & Technology (IJSRET), ISSN 2278 0882
Volume 4, Issue 6, June 2015

f S , f 1, 1 at 0

f 0, 0
as 0

(11)

The physical parameters of interest in the present problem, the skin friction coefficient C f and the Nusselt number Nu ,
are defined by

Cf
Nu

u

2 y
Uw
y 0
L
Tw T

(12)

y y 0

(13)

Substituting (5) to (7) into above two equations, we get the following expressions of skin friction and Nusselt number:

Cf

2 Re expx / 2L f ' ' 0

(14)

2 / Re exp x / 2 L Nu ' 0
(15)
B02 L
C p
cL
Here M
(Hartmann number), Pr
(Prandtl number) and Re
(Reynolds number) are the
k
c

dimensionless parameters introduced in the above equations.

The differential equations (9) and (10) under the boundary conditions (11) are solved using the series expansion method
as suggested by Singh and Dikshit [19].
Let us define
(16)
S , f S F and
The equations (9) to (11) becomes
(17)
F FF 2F 2 2 M F 0
G Pr FG F G 0
(18)
1

F 1, F
, G 1 at 0
(19)

S2

F 0, G 0
as 0
where prime denotes the differentiation with respect to .
For large suction, S assumes large positive values so that is small. Therefore, F and G can be expanded in terms of
small perturbation quantity as
(20)
F F0 F1 2 F2 3 F3 ...
(21)
G G0 G1 2 G2 3 G3 ...
Substituting (20) and (21) into (17),(18) and (19), we obtain the following sets of ordinary differential equations along
with the corresponding boundary conditions :
Zeroth Order O(1) :

F0 F0 F0 2 F0 2 0
G0 Pr F0G0 F0 G0 0

(22)
(23)

F0 0 1, F0 0 0, F0 0

G0 0 1, G0 0

(24)

F1 F0 F1 F1F0 2M F0 0

(25)

First-Order O :

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International Journal of Scientific Research Engineering & Technology (IJSRET), ISSN 2278 0882
Volume 4, Issue 6, June 2015

G1 Pr F1G0 F0G1 F0 G1 F1G0 0

F1 0 0, F10 1, F1 0

G1 0 0, G1 0

Second-Order O2 :

(26)
(27)

F2 F2 F0 F0 F2 F1F1 4 F0 F2 2 F1 2 2M F1 0
G2 Pr F0G2 F1G1 F2G0 F0 G2 F1G1 F2 G0 0

F2 0 0, F2 0 0, F2 0

G2 0 0, G2 0

(28)
(29)
(30)

Third-Order O3 :

F3 F0 F3 F1F2 F2 F1 F3 F0 4 F1F2 2M F2 0
G3 Pr F0G3 F1G2 F2G1 F3G0 F0 G3 F1G2 F2 G1 F3 G0 0

F3 0 0, F3 0 1, F3 0

G3 0 0, G3 0

(31)
(32)
(33)

The obtained solutions of the above equations under the corresponding boundary conditions are:
F0 1
(34)

F1 1 exp
5 8M 3 4 M
1
F2

exp exp 2
4
2
4
1 2M exp
L
1
F3 L18 L19 exp L14 exp 15 exp 2 exp 3
4
24
L
16 2 4 exp L17 exp 2

G0 exp Pr
PrPr 1
1 exp exp Pr Pr exp Pr
G1
Pr 1
G2 L12 exp Pr L9 exp Pr L10 exp 2 Pr
L11 exp 1 Pr

(35)
(36)

(37)

(38)
(39)
(40)

The velocity and temperature profiles can be calculated from the following expressions

f F1 F2 2 F3 ,
G0 G1 2 G2 .

(41)

(42)
In order to obtain more accurate results for velocity and temperature profiles, we have evaluated the expression up to the
third order.

III.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The numerical values of the similarity solutions obtained in the previous section are computed to demonstrate the effects
of suction parameter and magnetic field on the velocity, temperature profiles, skin-friction coefficient and Nusselt number.
Since the momentum equation is independent from the Prandtl number, therefore it has no effect on velocity profiles. The
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International Journal of Scientific Research Engineering & Technology (IJSRET), ISSN 2278 0882
Volume 4, Issue 6, June 2015

influence of Prandtl number on the temperature profiles and heat flux are also targeted. The pertinent parameters of the
problem are given arbitrary values.
The Figures 1 and 2 present the influence of suction parameter on velocity profiles. It is found that the velocity is
increased with the increasing suction parameter. Further, it is clear from these Figures that boundary layer thickness
decreases with the increasing suction when for S 2.011 (app.), whereas it is increased when S 2.011 . Thus, the
critical suction parameter determines the transition in boundary layer thickness.
The effect of magnetic field on velocity profiles with certain combination of suction parameter has been depicted by the
Figures 3, 4 and 5. The Figures 3 and 4 shows that the velocity profiles are enhanced with the increasing strength of the
magnetic field. These Figures also reveal that the boundary layer thickness becomes thinner with the increasing magnetic
field for S 4 and M 4.821(app.), and becomes thicker for S 4 and M 4.821(app.). However, the Figure 5 is
illustrating the opposite behaviour as the velocity profiles are reduced with the increase of magnetic field strength
when S 2 . Hence, the stronger magnetic field along with certain range of suction parameter can be utilized in removing
the uncertainty in the flow dynamics due to its resisting nature, that is, it makes the similarity solution unique.

Figure 1: Velocity profiles for suction parameter with M 1

Figure 2: Velocity profiles for suction parameter with M 1

The Figures 6 and 7 are plotted to ensure the smallness of skin-friction coefficients with respect to the suction parameter.
The Figure 6 demonstrates the decreasing nature of skin-friction when the strength of magnetic field is enhanced up to
M 2.62 (app.). Whereas the Figure 7 is depicting the reverse process, that is, the skin-friction increases for
M 2.762 (app.). Also at certain distance from the sheet, the behaviour is again noted to be reversed. Thus, the critical
magnetic parameter is also helpful in diminishing the skin-friction coefficient.

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International Journal of Scientific Research Engineering & Technology (IJSRET), ISSN 2278 0882
Volume 4, Issue 6, June 2015

Figure 3: Velocity profiles for Hartmann number with S 4

Figure 4: Velocity profiles for Hartmann number with S 4

Figure 5: Velocity profiles for Hartmann number with S 2

Figure 6: Skin friction coefficient

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International Journal of Scientific Research Engineering & Technology (IJSRET), ISSN 2278 0882
Volume 4, Issue 6, June 2015

Figure 7: Skin friction coefficient

Figure 8: Temperature profiles with M 1and Pr 0.71

S
The Figures 8 and 9 cover the effects of suction parameter and Prandtl number
on temperature profiles respectively. In
both the Figures, the temperature profiles are found to be reduced with their increasing strength. Also the thermal
boundary layer thickness is decreased with the increasing suction and Prandtl number. In general, the thermal boundary
layer thickness becomes thinner with the increase in Prandtl number. This is due to the physical fact that the increasing
Prandtl number decreases the thermal conductivity of the fluid, hence causes a reduction in the thermal boundary layer
thickness.

Figure 9: Temperature profiles with M 1and S 3

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International Journal of Scientific Research Engineering & Technology (IJSRET), ISSN 2278 0882
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Figure 10: Rate of heat transfer with Pr 0.71

The rate of heat transfer with the effect of magnetic field and Prandtl number with respect to suction parameter is shown
in Figures 10 and 11. The Figure 10 clearly shows that Nusselt number increases for magnetic of strength up
to M 4.634 , thereafter it decreases. The Figure 11 shows that Nusselt number increases with the increase in Prandtl
number.

Figure 11: Rate of heat transfer with M 1

IV.

CONCLUSION

The effects of suction parameter, magnetic field, and Prandtl number on the boundary layer flow and heat transfer over
shrinking sheet has been investigated. The closed form similarity solutions have obtained by perturbation technique. The
conclusions of the study are:

The velocity profiles are increased for all range of suction parameters, but the boundary layer thickness
decreases when the suction is greater than the critical suction parameter, and it is reversed for suction less the
critical value.

The magnetic field is found to have both the increasing and decreasing effects on the velocity profiles with
certain combination of suction parameter.

The temperature profiles are reduced with the suction and Prandtl number.

The rate of heat transfer is enhanced for magnetic fields of weaker strength, and reduced for strong magnetic
field. However, the opposite phenomenon is observed for skin-friction coefficient.

V.

APPENDIX

Pr Pr 2 1
5 8M
3 4M
,
L3
, L4
,
L2
4
2
Pr 1
1
1
1

L5 1 2 M , L6 Pr 2 Pr L2 L4 L1, L7 L1 Pr L2 1 Pr , L8 L5 Pr 1 Pr ,
2
2
4

Pr L7
L9 L2 Pr 1 L3 Pr ,
L10
,
4 3 Pr

PrPr 1
L1
,
Pr 1

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International Journal of Scientific Research Engineering & Technology (IJSRET), ISSN 2278 0882
Volume 4, Issue 6, June 2015

Pr L6 Pr 2 3 2 Pr L8
L11

, L12 L10 L11 , L13 L9 Pr L12 ,

1 Pr
1 Pr2
L14 M1 L3 M , L15 1 M1 L4 M ,

L16 L25 ,

M1

1
L5 ,
2

L
L17 16 ,
2

L
L
1
1
L14 15 2 L16 L17 ,
L19 L14 15 2 L16 L17 ,
12
4
8
2
L
L20 L19 L14 2 L16 ,
L22 L14 L16 .
L21 15 L17 ,
2
L18

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