Modelling micropolar ferromagnetic fluid flow due to stretching of an elastic sheet

The flow of a micropolar ferromagnetic liquid due to stretching of an elastic sheet in the presence of a magnetic dipole is investigated. The focus of the study is on the magneto-thermo mechanical interaction and heat transfer at the stretching sheet. Two different boundary heating conditions, namely prescribed surface temperature (PST) and prescribed surface heat flux (PHF) are considered in the analysis. The momentum and thermal energy equations are formulated as an eight parameter problem that is solved numerically using the shooting method with Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg and Newton-Raphson schemes. Extensive computation of the velocity and temperature profiles are presented for a wide range of values of fluid and system parameters. The skin friction and heat transfer characteristics for the ferromagnetic fluid are investigated for different values of the governing parameters. It was found, among other interesting phenomenon, that the primary effect of the magneto-thermo mechanical interaction is to decelerate the fluid motion as compared to the pure hydrodynamic case. © 2013 African Mathematical Union and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.