FREE-CONVECTION ABOUT AXISYMMETRICAL BODIES IMMERSED IN INHOMOGENEOUS POROUS-MEDIUM

The problem of free convective heat transfer from a non-isothermal axisymmetric body immersed in an inhomogeneous porous medium is analysed on the basis of boundary layer approximations. An approximate method based on the Karman-Pohlhausen integral relation is adopted to simplify the governing equations to obtain an analytic solution of sufficient accuracy. The effect of the shape parameters on boundary layer thickness and the heat transferred by it to the surrounding fluid has been examined. The results for convective flow past an impermeable vertical surface have been obtained as a limiting case of this study.