Numerical study of the combined free-forced convective laminar boundary layer flow past a vertical isothermal flat plate with temperature-dependent viscosity

A modified and improved numerical solution scheme, for local nonsimilarity boundary layer analysis, is used to study the combined free-forced convective laminar boundary layer flow, past a vertical isothermal flat plate, with temperature-dependent viscosity. This numerical scheme is efficient and accurate and it can be programmed and applied easily and its application is illustrated, step by step, by the study of the above mentioned problem. Numerical results are presented graphically, for the flow field, for the case of air and water and for different values of the viscosity/temperature parameter H-r over the range of the convection parameter 0.2 less than or equal to xi less than or equal to 1.0. The analysis of the obtained results showed that the flow field is appreciably influenced by the viscosity/temperature parameter, and hence care must be taken to include the variation of viscosity with temperature in the heat transfer processes.