Rotationally Symmetric Ferrofluid Flow and Heat Transfer in Porous Medium with Variable Viscosity and Viscous Dissipation

The analysis of three dimensional rotationally symmetric boundary layer flow of field dependent viscous ferrofluid saturating porous medium is performed. The fluid under consideration is electrically nonconducting incompressible magnetic fluid. The flow is generated due to the rotation of an infinite disk maintained at a uniform temperature. The momentum equations give rise to nonlinear coupled boundary value problem which is solved using Finite Difference and Newton methods. The numerical solutions for the governing nonlinear differential equations are obtained over the entire range of physical parameters. The effects of field dependent viscosity, permeability parameter, Prandtl number (Pr) and Eckert number (Ec) on various flow characteristics are discussed in detail and presented graphically. A special attention has been paid to study the effects of viscous dissipation on thermal boundary layer. Appreciable effects of these physical parameters are recorded on boundary layer displacement thickness, skin friction coefficients and rate of heat transfer.