Magnetohydrodynamic Flow in the Inlet Region of a Straight Channel

The flow is considered of an incompressible conducting viscous fluid in the inlet region of a straight channel in the presence of a transverse magnetic field. The complete equations are solved numerically without any approximating assumptions. Various characteristics of the flow and their dependence on the physical parameters are deduced. Values of Reynolds number up to 500 are considered. Velocity profiles near the inlet are found to have points of inflection. The distance to the terminal regime is studied, and the results, in the limiting case of large Reynolds number, compared with those of other workers. The boundary layer thickness is found to be proportional to xα (for a small range of x) where α ≈ 1.2 at zero Reynolds number and decreases to 0.5 as the Reynolds number increases. The exact pressure distribution is also obtained.