Thermal instability of a boundary layer subjected to external electric and magnetic fields
This paper presents a numerical study of the electrical and magnetic fields on thermal instability in a boundary layer. The criterion on the position marking on the onset of longitudinal vortices is defined in the present paper. The results show that the onset position characterized by the Grashof number depends on the Prandtl number, the Reynolds number, the wave number, the electric field parameter, and the Hartmann number. The flow becomes more stable as the magnetic field increases. However, the destabilizing effect is found on the flow when the negative electric field parameter is applied. The results of the present numerical prediction show reasonable agreement with the experimental data in the case of zero Hartmann number and zero electric field parameter in the literature. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
thermal instability boundary layer grashof number magnetic effect electrical effect