Influence of magnetic field and thermal radiation by natural convection past vertical cone subjected to variable surface heat flux.

A numerical study is performed to examine the heat transfer characteristics of natural convection past a vertical cone under the combined effects of magnetic field and thermal radiation. The surface of the cone is subjected to a variable surface heat flux. The fluid considered is a gray, absorbing-emitting radiation but a non-scattering medium. With approximate transformations, the boundary layer equations governing the flow are reduced to non-dimensional equations valid in the free convection regime. The dimensionless governing equations are solved by an implicit finite difference method of Crank-Nicolson type which is fast convergent, accurate, and unconditionally stable. Numerical results are obtained and presented for velocity, temperature, local and average wall shear stress, and local and average Nusselt number in air and water. The present results are compared with the previous published work and are found to be in excellent agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]