Unaxisymmetric stagnation-point flow and heat transfer of a viscous fluid with variable viscosity on a cylinder

Abstract

Existing solutions of the problem of axisymmetric stagnation-point flow and heat transfer on either a cylinder or a flat plate are for incompressible fluid. Here, fluid with viscosity proportional to a linear function of temperature is considered in the problem of an unaxisymmetric stagnation-point flow and heat transfer of an infinite stationary cylinder with non-uniform normal transpiration U0(φ) and constant heat flux. The impinging free-stream is steady and with a constant strain rate k¯. A reduction of Navier–Stokes and energy equations is obtained by use of appropriate similarity transformations. The semi-similar solution of the Navier–Stokes equations and energy equation has been obtained numerically using an implicit finite-difference scheme. All the solutions aforesaid are presented for Reynolds numbers, Re=k¯a2/2υ∞, ranging from 0.01 to 100 for different values of Prandtl number and viscosity-variation parameter and for selected values of transpiration rate function, S(φ)=U0(φ)/k¯a, where a is cylinder radius and υ∞ is the reference kinematic viscosity of the fluid. Dimensionless shear-stresses corresponding to all the cases increase with the increase in Reynolds number and transpiration rate function while dimensionless shear stresses decrease with the increase in viscosity-variation parameter. The local coefficient of heat transfer (Nusselt number) increases with increasing the transpiration rate function and Prandtl number.

Keywords

• Unaxisymmetric stagnation-point flow
• Heat transfer
• Stationary cylinder
• Temperature dependent viscosity
• Numerical solution
• Non-uniform transpiration