Mixed Convection Flow of Viscoelastic Fluid over a Sphere under Convective Boundary Condition Embedded in Porous Medium

The investigation on mixed convection boundary layer of a viscoelastic fluid over a sphere which is embedded in porous medium under convective boundary condition is carried out in this paper. The boundary layer equations of viscoelastic fluid are an order higher than Newtonian (viscous) fluid and the adherence boundary conditions are insufficient to determine the solution of these equations completely. Hence, the augmentation on extra boundary conditions is needed in order to solve this problem. The governing partial differential equations are first transformed into non-dimensional forms and then solved numerically using the Keller-box method by augmenting extra boundary conditions at infinity. The numerical results obtained for limiting case are comparing with related outcomes in order to validate the present results. Results on the effects of the viscoelastic parameter in the presence of porosity and mixed convection on the skin friction and heat transfer as well as velocity and temperature profile have been discussed. © 2015 Trans Tech Publications Ltd, Switzerland.