Modelling and Analytical Solution to Heat Transfer and Boundary Layer Flow with Suction and Injection

Abstract

A genuine variational principle developed by Gyarmati in the field of thermodynamics of irreversible processes unifying the theoretical requirements of technical, environmental, and biological sciences is employed to study the effects of uniform suction and injection in the heat transfer and boundary layer flow with power function main stream velocity and surface temperature variations, over a wedge. The velocity and temperature distributions inside the boundary layer are considered as simple polynomial functions and the variational principle is formulated. The Euler–Lagrange equations are reduced to simple polynomial equations in terms of boundary layer thicknesses. The values of skin friction and heat transfer are calculated for any given values of Prandtl number Pr, wedge angle parameter m, wall temperature exponent n, and suction/injection parameter H. The obtained analytic results are compared with known numerical solutions and the comparison establishes the fact that the accuracy is remarkable.