Analytical investigation of MHD nanofluid flow in a semi-porous channel

In this paper, Least Square and Galerkin methods are used to solve the problem of laminar nanofluid flow in a semi-porous channel in the presence of transverse magnetic field. Obtained results are compared with fourth order Runge-Kutta numerical method. The difference in the velocity profiles is almost negligible when the two methods (LSM and GM) are compared. The results obtained by GM are slightly more accurate than LSM in this problem. The influence of the three dimensionless numbers: the nanofluid volume fraction, Hartmann number and Reynolds number on non-dimensional velocity profile are considered. The results show that velocity boundary layer thickness decrease with increase of Reynolds number and it increases as Hartmann number increases. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.