Numerical study of magnetohydrodynamic Blasius and Sakiadis boundary-layer flow with thermal radiation, Buoyancy effects, and convective heating over a vertical plate

Abstract

This study presents a numerical investigation of two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) boundary-layer flow over a vertical plate, considering both Blasius (stationary) and Sakiadis (moving) configurations. The study examines the influence of thermal radiation, buoyancy forces, and convective heating on the velocity and temperature distributions within the boundary layer. The flow of a cold fluid at a uniform velocity pass over the vertical plate, where the left surface is exposed to convective heating from a hot fluid. The governing boundary value problems are transformed into initial value problems using the shooting method and integrated numerically with a fifth-order Runge–Kutta technique for enhanced accuracy. The influence of key controlling parameters, including magnetic field strength, Prandtl number, buoyancy parameter, and thermal radiation, is analyzed through graphical and tabular representations. The results provide insight to evaluate the velocity and temperature profiles within the boundary layer for both Blasius (stationary plate) and Sakiadis (moving plate) flow configurations and can be applied to engineering processes involving heat transfer in magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) boundary-layer flows over vertical plates.