The Effect of Hall Currents on the Magnetohydrodynamic Boundary Layer Flow past a Semi-Infinite Flat Plate

Abstract

This paper concerns with the numerical investigation of the effect of Hall currents on the steady boundary layer flow of an incompressible, viscous and electrically conducting fluid past a semi-infinite flat plate in the presence of a transverse magnetic field on the assumption of small magnetic Reynolds number. The numerical solutions of boundary layer equations are obtained by the difference-differential method originated by Hartree and Womersley with an iterative method in solving resulting differential equations. The velocity profiles and the skin friction on the flat plate are computed for various values of the Hall parameter. Hall currents induce the flow and the skin friction in the cross direction. The effect of Hall currents especially on the skin friction is examined in detail.