Oberbeck convection flow of a couple stress fluid through a vertical porous stratum

The flow and heat transfer characteristics of Oberbeck convection of a couple stress fluid in a vertical porous stratum is investigated. The perturbation method of solution is obtained in terms of buoyancy parameter N valid for small values of N. This limitation is relaxed through numerical solutions using the finite difference technique with an error of 0.1 x 10(-7). The effect of increase in the values of temperature difference between the plates, permeability parameter and couple stress parameter on velocity, temperature, mass flow rate, skin friction and rate of heat transfer are reported. A new achievement is explored to analyse the flow for strong, weak and comparable porosity with the couple stress parameter. It is noted that both the porous parameter and the couple stress parameter suppress the flow. Higher-temperature difference is required to achieve the mass flow rate equivalent to that of viscous flow. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.