Effect of the local acceleration term on the MHD transient free convection flow over a vertical plate

Purpose – The transient hydrodynamics and thermal behavior of free convection flow over an isothermal vertical flat plate is investigated.Design/methodology/approach – The study focuses on the role of the local acceleration term in the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) momentum equation. A finite difference method based on a second‐order differential equation is used to solve the differential equations.Findings – It is found that the local acceleration term has insignificant effect on the flow behavior especially at large values of magnetic forces. Also, it is found that the effect of the magnetic forces on the flow hydrodynamics behavior is significant but its effect on the thermal behavior is insignificant. It has been realized that the local acceleration term is usually small compared to the magnetic retarding force, and hence can be neglected.Research limitations/implications – A quantitative description of the operating and geometrical parameters within which the local acceleration term may be significant is...