Three weighted residual methods based on Jeffery-Hamel flow

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the eligibility of the weighted residual methods (WRMs) applied to Jeffery-Hamel Flow. Selecting the most appropriate method among the WRMs and discussing about Jeffery-Hamel flow's treatment in divergent and convergent channels are the other important purposes of the present research. Design/methodology/approach - Three analytical methods (collocation, Galerkin and least square method) have been applied to solve the governing equations. The reliability of the methods is also approved by a comparison made between the forth order Runge-Kutta numerical method. Findings - The obtained solutions revealed that WRMs can be simple, powerful and efficient techniques for finding analytical solutions in science and engineering non-linear differential equations. Originality/value - It could be considered as a first endeavor to use the solution of the Jeffery-Hamel flow using these kind of analytical methods along with the numerical approach.