Mixed convection boundary-layer on a vertical cylinder embedded in a saturated porous medium (Q1086089)

The mixed convection boundary layer on a vertical circular cylinder embedded in a saturated porous medium is considered. It is found that the flow depends on the parameter \(\epsilon =R_ a/P_ e\) where \(R_ a\) and \(P_ e\) are the Rayleigh number and Peclet number respectively. \(\epsilon\) gives the ratio of the velocity scale for free convection to that for the forced convection. The finite-difference scheme is unable to give a satisfactory solution at very large distances from the leading edge, and to overcome this difficulty a simple approximate solution is developed. This solution shows that at large distances along the cylinder, forced convection eventually becomes the dominant mechanism for heat transfer. This is also confirmed by an asymptotic solution of the full boundary- layer problem.