Non-Darcy mixed convection over a vertical flat plate in porous media with variable wall heat flux

The problem of non-Darcy mixed convection along a vertical flat plate embedded in a saturated porous medium is analyzed for the case of variable surface heat flux. Based on three different now models, the influences of non-Darcy flow phenomena on mixed convection from a vertical surface are thoroughly investigated. The wall effect on porosity variation is approximated by an exponential function. The effects of thermal dispersion and variable stagnant thermal conductivity are taken into consideration in the energy equation. The entire regime of mixed convection, including the two limits of pure forced convection and pure flee convection, is covered by employing a single nonsimilarity parameter. The resulting nonsimilar system of equations is solved using a finite difference method. Results are presented for temperature and velocity profiles, and local Nusselt number for representative values of different controlling parameters. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.