A numerical study on unsteady natural convection of air with variable viscosity over an isothermal vertical cylinder

Abstract

The present study deals with the boundary layer flow and heat transfer of unsteady laminar free convection flow past a semi-infinite isothermal vertical cylinder immersed in air. The fluid viscosity is assumed to vary with the temperature. An implicit finite-difference method has been employed to solve the governing non-dimensional boundary layer equations. A parametric study is performed to illustrate the influence of variable viscosity on the velocity and temperature profiles. The numerical results reveal that the viscosity has significant influences on the transient velocity and temperature profiles, average skin-friction coefficient and the average heat transfer rate. The results indicate that as the viscosity parameter increases, the temperature and the skin-friction coefficient increase, while the velocity near the wall and the Nusselt number decrease.