Similarity Solution of MHD Power-Law Flow Past Accelerated Plate

Abstract: The present study investigates the influence of an applied magnetic field on the boundary-layer characteristics of an electrically conducting fluid in a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow configuration. By employing similarity transformations, the governing equations are reduced to a set of dimensionless ordinary differential equations and solved for various values of the magnetic parameter 𝑆0. The effects of the magnetic field on the dimensionless velocity profile 𝑓(𝜂) and velocity-gradient profile (𝑓(𝜂)) are analyzed in detail. The results reveal that increasing the magnetic parameter significantly suppresses the fluid velocity due to the action of the Lorentz force, which opposes the fluid motion. Consequently, the momentum boundary layer becomes thinner as the magnetic field strength increases. Furthermore, the magnitude of the velocity gradient at the wall increases with increasing magnetic parameter, indicating an enhancement in wall shear stress and skin friction. The study demonstrates that the applied magnetic field provides an effective mechanism for controlling flow behavior and modifying boundary-layer characteristics in electrically conducting fluids.

Keywords: Similarity solution, Group transformation technique, Magnetohydrodynamic flow, non-Newtonian fluid.