International Journal of Mathematical Sciences, ISSN:2051-5995, Vol.34, Issue.1 1480 © RECENT SCIENCE PUBLICATIONS ARCHIVES |April 2014|$25.00 | 27703396| *This article is authorized for use only by Recent Science Journal Authors, Subscribers and Partnering Institutions* Effects on Magnetohydrodynamic Boundary Layer Flow through a Porous Medium over a Stretching Sheet with Heat Generation M.Venkateswarlu Department of Mathematics, V. R. Siddhartha Engineering College, Kanur, Krishna (Dist), A.P, India -520 007 G.Venkata Ramana Reddy Department of Mathematics, K. L University, Vaddeswaram, Guntur (Dist), A.P, India-522 502 D.Venkata Lakshmi Department of Mathematics, Bapatla Women‟s Engineering College, Bapatla, Guntur (Dist), A.P, India-522102 Corresponding Author Email: mvsr2010@gmail.com ABSTRACT A steady two-dimensional magneto hydrodynamic flow and heat transfer over a stretching vertical sheet influenced by radiation, heat generation and porosity is studied. The resultant governing boundary layer equations are non-linear and coupled form of partial differential equations and they have been solved by using fourth order Runge-Kutta method along with shooting technique. Numerical computations are carried out for the non-dimensional physical parameters. Here a numerical method has been carried out to study the effect of different physical parameters such as buoyancy parameters, Magnetic field, Permeability of porous medium, Prandtl number, Radiation parameter, Heat generation, Schmidt number and Chemical reaction parameter on the flow of heat and mass transfer characteristics. Keywords- MHD, heat generation, Runge-Kutta method, porous medium, chemical reaction parameter. 1. INTRODUCTION In recent years, a great deal of interest has been generated in the area of heat and mass transfer of the boundary layer flow over a stretching sheet, in view of its numerous and wide-ranging applications in various fields like polymer processing industry in particular in manufacturing process of artificial film and artificial fibers and in some applications of dilute polymer solution. Sakiadis [1, 2] was the first study of boundary layer problem assuming velocity of a boundary sheet as constant. This work is followed by the pioneering work of Tsou et al. [3] studied the flow and heat transfer developed by continuously moving surface both analytically and experimentally, in which the flow is caused by an elastic sheet moving in its own plane with a velocity varying linearly with the distance from a fixed point studied by Crane [4]. Chakrabarti and Gupta [5] studied the temperature distribution in this MHD boundary layer flow over a stretching sheet in the presence of suction. There are several extensions to this problem, which include consideration of more general stretching velocity and the study of heat transfer [6-12]. The applications of hydromagnetic incompressible viscous flow in science and engineering involving heat and mass transfer is of great importance to many areas of science and engineering. This frequently occurs in petro-chemical industry, power and cooling systems, chemical vapor deposition on surfaces, cooling of nuclear reactors, heat exchanger design, forest fire dynamics and geophysics as well as in magnetohydrodynamic power generation systems. Many analytical and numerical studies have been conducted to explain the various aspects of boundary layer flow with heat and mass transfer over flat surfaces using both Darcian and non-Darcian models for the porous medium drag effects. Raptis et al. [13] steady for the MHD asymmetric flow of an electrically conducting fluid past a semi-infinite stationary plate. Liu [14] analyzed the hydromagnetic fluid flow past a stretching sheet in presence of a uniform transverse magnetic field. Chen [15] investigated the fluid flow and heat transfer on a stretching vertical sheet and his work has been extended by Ishak et al [16] to hydromagnetic flow and they found that as the magnetic field increases, the surface skin friction as well as the surface Nusselt number decreases. The study of two-dimensional boundary layer flow, heat and mass transfer over a porous stretching surface is very important as it finds many practical applications in different areas. To be more specific, it may be pointed out that many metallurgical processes involve the cooling of continuous strips or filaments by drawing them through a quiescent fluid and that in the process of drawing these strips, are sometimes stretched. Makinde [17] investigated the free convection flow with radiation and mass transfer past a moving vertical porous plate. Same author [18] studied the effects of mass transfer on MHD boundary layer flow past a vertical plate embedded in porous medium in presence of constant heat flux. The problem of magnetohydrodynamic natural convection about a vertical stretching sheet embedded in porous medium can be found in Pop and Postelnicu [19]. Chamkha [20] analyzed the steady hydromagnetic two- dimensional flow and heat transfer in a stationary electrically- conducting and heat-generating fluid driven by a continuously moving porous surface immersed in a fluid-saturated porous medium. It was shown the heat transfer characteristics can be enhanced by the porous medium. Abbas and Hayat [21] investigated the magnetohydrodynamics