Joule heating effect on magnetohydrodynamic mixed convection boundary layer flow with variable electrical conductivity

Purpose The paper's aim is to investigate the mixed convection flow of an electrically conducting and viscous incompressible fluid past an isothermal vertical surface with Joule heating in the presence of a uniform transverse magnetic field fixed relative to the surface. It was assumed that the electrical conductivity of the fluid varies linearly with the transverse velocity component. Design/methodology/approach The governing boundary layer equations were solved numerically. The boundary layer equations were first reduced to a convenient form by using two different formulations, namely, (i) the stream function formulation (SFF) and (ii) primitive variable formulation (PVF). Findings It was observed that both the local shear‐stress and Nusselt number increase with increasing value of local magnetic parameter, ξ. Research limitations/implications In the present investigation, we investigated the effects of Joule heating on MHD mixed convection boundary layer flow of an electrically conducting viscous incompressible fluid past an isothermal vertical flat plate in the presence of a transverse magnetic field fixed relative to the surface of the plate. The analysis was valid for a steady, two dimensional laminar flow. An extension to three dimensional flow case is left for future work. Practical implications Here we have analyzed the problem of mixed convection flow of electrically conducting and viscous incompressible fluid past an isothermal vertical surface with viscous and Joule heating in presence of a uniform transverse magnetic field fixed relative to the surface. The work would be useful in the thermal management of heat transfer devices. Originality/value The results of this study may be of interest to engineers interested in heat exchanger design.