Slip flow of an optically thin radiating non-Gray couple stress fluid past a stretching sheet

Abstract

This paper addresses the combined effects of couple stresses, thermal radiation, viscous dissipation and slip condition on a free convective flow of a couple stress fluid induced by a vertical stretching sheet. The Cogley- Vincenti-Gilles equilibrium model is employed to include the effects of thermal radiation in the study. The governing boundary layer equations are transformed into a system of nonlinear differential equations, and solved numerically using the Runge-Kutta fourth order method with shooting technique. Numerical results are obtained for the fluid velocity, temperature as well as the shear stress and rate of heat transfer. The effects of the pertinent parameters on these quantities are examined. It is found that both the fluid velocity and temperature reduce in the presence of thermal radiation. Increasing values of the couple stress parameter thicken the momentum boundary layer. The slip parameter greatly influences the fluid flow and shear stress on the surface of the stretching sheet.

Keywords

• slip flow
• couple stress fluid
• stretching sheet
• thermal radiation
• viscous dissipation