Natural convection flow of non‐Newtonian power‐law fluid from a slotted vertical isothermal surface

Abstract

Purpose

The paper's aim is to investigate the natural convection flow of an Ostwald‐de Waele type power law non‐Newtonian fluid past an isothermal vertical slotted surface.

Design/methodology/approach

The Keller‐Box method is used to solve the governing boundary layer equations for the natural convection flow of an Ostwald‐de Waele type power law non‐Newtonian fluid past an isothermal vertical slotted surface.

Findings

As the slip parameter increases, the friction factor increases whereas the heat transfer rate decreases. Owing to increase in the value of the Prandtl number, Pr, there is decrease in the value of the skin‐friction coefficient, and augmentation of heat transfer rate. As the viscosity index n increases, both the friction factor and the heat transfer rate increase.

Research limitations/implications

The analysis is valid for steady, two‐dimensional laminar flow of an Ostwald‐de Waele type power law non‐Newtonian fluid past an isothermal vertical slotted surface. An extension to three‐dimensional flow case is left for future work.

Practical implications

The method is useful to analyze perforated plates and wire netting such as perforated wings in order to reduce the drag by suction of the boundary layer, filtration or air‐conditioning.

Originality/value

The results of this study may be of interest to engineers interested in heat transfer augmentation and drag reduction in heat exchangers.

Citation

Hossain, A. and Subba Reddy Gorla, R. (2009), "Natural convection flow of non‐Newtonian power‐law fluid from a slotted vertical isothermal surface", International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, Vol. 19 No. 7, pp. 835-846. https://doi.org/10.1108/09615530910984109