BOUNDARY AND INERTIA EFFECTS ON VORTEX INSTABILITY OF A HORIZONTAL MIXED CONVECTION FLOW IN A POROUS MEDIUM

Abstract

Non-Darcian effects, including the effects of boundary and inertia, are examined on the flow and vortex instability of a horizontal mixed convective boundary layer flow in a high-porosity medium. In the base flow, the governing conservation equations are solved by using a suitable variable transformation and employing an implicit finite-difference scheme. The stability analysis is based on linear stability theory, and the resulting equations are solved on the basis of the local similarity approximations. The results show that the flow becomes more susceptible to the vortex mode of disturbances as buoyancy force is increased. In addition, both the boundary and inertia effects reduce the heat transfer rate and stabilize the flow to the vortex mode of disturbances.