The effect of lateral mass flux on the natural convection boundary layers induced by a heated vertical plate embedded in a saturated porous medium with internal heat generation

The effect of suction or injection on the free convection boundary layers induced by a heated vertical plate embedded in a saturated porous medium with an exponential decaying heat generation is studied. Similarity solutions are obtained for the governing steady laminar boundary layer equations using Darcy and Boussinesq approximations. The plate is assumed to have a power law temperature distribution. Three distinct cases of uniform lateral mass flux, uniform surface temperature, and uniform heat flux are studied. The effects of suction/injection parameter fw and temperature exponent λ on the flow of heat transfer are studied. Some exact analytical results are obtained for λ = 1,−1/3. Critical values of the suction/injection parameter are obtained for adiabatic surface as a function of the temperature exponent parameter λ.Corresponding Author: Mohamed E. Ali, King Saud University, Mechanical Engineering Department, PO Box 800, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia. Email: mali@ksu.edu.s