Similarity Solutions for Unsteady Laminar Natural Convection Boundary Layer Flow Around a Vertical Heated Curvilinear Surface

Abstract

The present paper deals with the possible similarity solutions of unsteady laminar natural convection boundary layer flow around a vertical curvilinear surface. Under suitable similarity transformations, the pertinent boundary layer partial differential equations are transformed into a set of ordinary differential equations. These simultaneous transformed ordinary differential equations with proper boundary conditions are solved numerically using Nachtsheim-Swigert iteration technique and Runge-Kutta shooting method. The flow and
temperature fields as well as the non-dimensional skin-friction factors and heat transfer coefficient are determined and are displayed graphically or numerically for several selected values of the controlling parameters involved in the similarity transformation. The influence of these parameters on the fluid flow pattern and temperature distribution and other flow variables like skin-friction and heat transfer coefficients are also exhibited either graphically or in tabular form in the analysis.