Analytical and numerical solutions of the unsteady 2D flow of MHD fractional Maxwell fluid induced by variable pressure gradient

The nonlocal property of the fractional derivative can supply more precise mathematical models for depicting flow dynamics of complex fluid which cannot be modelled appropriately by normal integer order differential equations. This paper studies the analytical and numerical methods of unsteady 2D flow of Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) fractional Maxwell fluid in a rectangular pipe driven by variable pressure gradient. The governing equation is formulated with Caputo time dependent fractional derivatives whose orders are distributed in interval (0, 2). A challenge is to firstly obtain the exact solution by combining modified separation of variables method with Mikusiński-type operational calculus. Meanwhile, the numerical solution is also obtained by the implicit finite difference method whose validity has been confirmed by the comparison with the exact solution constructed. Different to the most classical works, both the stability and convergence analysis of two-dimensional multi-term time fractional momentum equation are derived. Based on numerical analysis, the results show that the velocity increases with the rise of the fractional parameter and relaxation time. While an increase in the values of Hartmann number leads to a slower velocity in the rectangular pipe.