Unsteady laminar mixed convection about a spinning sphere with a magnetic field

The unsteady laminar boundary-layer flow over an impulsively started translating and spinning isothermal body of revolution in the presence of buoyancy force and magnetic field applied normal to the surface are investigated. Velocity components and temperature are obtained as series of functions in powers of time. Leading and first order functions are obtained analytically and second order functions are determined numerically. The general results are applied to a sphere to investigate the effects of magnetic field and buoyancy force on the velocity and temperature fields and the onset of separation. The magnetic field and buoyancy force are more effective for small rotational speeds and the presence of magnetic field retards the onset of separation. The effect of magnetic field on the temperature field and surface heat flux is weak, indirect and through the velocity field. The magnetic field is observed to initially increase the surface heat flux on the upstream face of the sphere and decrease it on the downstream face.