Combined effects of viscous dissipation and MHD on free convection flow past a semi-infinite vertical plate with variable surface temperature in the presence of heat source

An unsteady MHD laminar viscous dissipative fluid flow past a semi-infinite vertical plate with variable surface temperature in the presence of heat source is considered in the present analysis. The present approach transforms the governing boundary layer equations into nondimensional form using the appropriate nondimensional quantities, which is valid in the free convection region. The resulting governing equations are solved numerically using the Crank–Nicolson method, an efficient implicit finite-difference scheme. Numerical results are obtained and presented in the form of local as well as average shearing stress, local and average heat transfer rate, velocity and temperature during the transient period. The present results are compared with the available results in the literature and are found to be in an excellent agreement.