BOUNDARY-ELEMENT METHOD FOR MHD CHANNEL FLOW WITH ARBITRARY WALL CONDUCTIVITY

A boundary element formulation is presented to obtain the solution in terms of velocity and induced magnetic field for the steady MHD (magne tohydrodynamic) flow through a rectangular channel having arbitrarily conducting walls, with an external magnetic field applied transverse t o the flow. The fluid is viscous, incompressible, and electrically con ducting. The boundary element method (BEM) with constant elements has been used to cast the problem into the form of an integral equation ov er the boundary and to obtain a system of algebraic equations for the boundary unknown values only. Computations have been carried out for s everal values of Hartmann number (1 less-than-or-equal-to M less-than- or-equal-to 10) and conductivity parameter (0 less-than-or-equal-to la mbda less-than-or-equal-to infinity). Selected graphs are given showin g the behavior of the velocity field and induced magnetic field, which are of the flattening tendency for an increase in M or decrease in A, and are in agreement with exact solutions.