Abstract
A two-dimensional steady forced convective flow of a Newtonian fluid past a convectively heated permeable vertically moving plate in the presence of a variable magnetic field and radiation effect has been investigated numerically. The plate moves either in assisting or opposing direction to the free stream. The plate and free stream velocities are considered to be proportional to x(m) whilst the magnetic field and mass transfer velocity are taken to be proportional to x((m-1)/2) where x is the distance along the plate from the leading edge of the plate. Instead of using existing similarity transformations, we use a linear group of transformations to transform the governing equations into similarity equations with relevant boundary conditions. Numerical solutions of the similarity equations are presented to show the effects of the controlling parameters on the dimensionless velocity, temperature and concentration profiles as well as on the friction factor, rate of heat and mass transfer. It is found that the rate of heat transfer elevates with the mass transfer velocity, convective heat transfer, Prandtl number, velocity ratio and the magnetic field parameters. It is also found that the rate of mass transfer enhances with the mass transfer velocity, velocity ratio, power law index and the Schmidt number, whilst it suppresses with the magnetic field parameter. Our results are compared with the results existing in the open literature. The comparisons are satisfactory.