Numerical investigation of transient heat transfer to hydromagnetic channel flow with radiative heat and convective cooling

This present study consists of a numerical investigation of transient heat transfer in channel flow of an electrically conducting variable viscosity Boussinesq fluid in the presence of a magnetic field and thermal radiation. The temperature dependent nature of viscosity is assumed to follow an exponentially model and the system exchanges heat with the ambient following Newton’s law of cooling. The governing nonlinear equations of momentum and energy transport are solved numerically using a semi-implicit finite difference method. Solutions are presented in graphical form and given in terms of fluid velocity, fluid temperature, skin friction and heat transfer rate for various parametric values. Our results reveal that combined effect of thermal radiation, magnetic field, viscosity variation and convective cooling have significant impact in controlling the rate of heat transfer in the boundary layer region.