Buoyancy effect on the plane couette flow past a permeable bed

Abstract

Laminar steady plane Couette flow having one permeable bounding wall is investigated in the presence of buoyancy force. The experimental results of Rajasekhara (1974) are found to be in excellent accord with the present theoretical predictions based on a model which admits a slip-velocity at the surface of the porous material. The expression for velocity distribution in the boundary layer just below the nominal surface in zone 2 is obtained. It is shown that the effect of buoyancy force is to increase the velocity distribution in the case of greater heat addition (N/0/ greater than 0) and to decrease it by a greater cooling (N/0/ less than 0). As a result, the mass flow rate increases and the friction factor decreases for N/0/ greater than 0 and the opposite is true for N/0/ less than 0.