Natural convection from a semi-infinite flat plate inclined at a small angle to the horizontal in a saturated porous medium (Q1083966)

This paper considers the free convection boundary-layer on a semi- infinite heated flat surface bounding a saturated porous medium. Two configurations are considered: one where the component of the buoyancy force along the surface aids the flow, the other where it opposes the flow. Series solutions are developed: one valid near the leading edge and the other valid at large distance from it when the surface is inclined upwards. Sufficient terms in the leading edge solution are taken so that the two asymptotic solutions may be joined. In the case of a downwards inclination surface, the series solutions valid near the leading edge are again obtained and the nature of the boundary-layer separation is investigated. An important aspect of this work is the analysis of the non-singular nature of the solution, which appears near the point of separation for a downwards inclination of the surface. The authors have shown that this separation is in general non-singular for this configuration by simple analytical as well as numerical methods. It is worth mentioning, however, that this phenomenon of boundary-layer separation in a porous medium is apparently novel and very little work has been done on this aspect. The paper is carefully prepared and it offers extensive mathematical arguments in support of the modelling proposed. The subject matter would appeal to those interested in the area of convective flow in porous media and numerical solutions to the specific problems.