Non-Darcy Free Convection Along a Horizontal Heated Surface

In this paper we analyse how the presence of inertia (Forchheimerform-drag) affects the steady free convective boundary layer flow over anupward-facing horizontal surface embedded in a porous medium. The surfacetemperature is assumed to display a power-law variation,xnwith distance from the leading edge, x. It is shown thatthere are three distinct cases to consider: n<0.5, n=0.5 and0.5<n≤2. In the first case inertia dominates the flow near the leadingedge, but its effect wanes downstream. The boundary layer is self-similar inthe second case with the resulting profiles being dependent on the strengthof the inertia effect. In the third case, inertia effects grow withincreasing distance from the leading edge, and the boundary-layer thicknessis greater than when inertia is absent.