Thermal diffusion and diffusion thermo effects on an unsteady heat and mass transfer magnetohydrodynamic natural convection Couette flow using FEM

•Studied MHD free convection Couette flow with the effect of Soret & Dufour numbers.•Finite Element Method is implemented as the numerical approach.•Grid independence of FEM is studied.•Enhance the fluid velocity as increasing of temperature and concentration gradient.

The numerical solutions of unsteady hydromagnetic natural convection Couette flow of a viscous, incompressible and electrically conducting fluid between the two vertical parallel plates in the presence of thermal radiation, thermal diffusion and diffusion thermo are obtained here. The fundamental dimensionless governing coupled linear partial differential equations for impulsive movement and uniformly accelerated movement of the plate were solved by an efficient Finite Element Method. Computations were performed for a wide range of the governing flow parameters, viz., Thermal diffusion (Soret) and Diffusion thermo (Dufour) parameters, Magnetic field parameter, Prandtl number, Thermal radiation and Schmidt number. The effects of these flow parameters on the velocity (u), temperature (θ) and Concentration (ϕ) are shown graphically. Also the effects of these pertinent parameters on the skin-friction, the rate of heat and mass transfer are obtained and discussed numerically through tabular forms. These are in good agreement with earlier reported studies. Analysis indicates that the fluid velocity is an increasing function of Grashof numbers for heat and mass transfer, Soret and Dufour numbers whereas the Magnetic parameter, Thermal radiation parameter, Prandtl number and Schmidt number lead to reduction of the velocity profiles. Also, it is noticed that the rate of heat transfer coefficient and temperature profiles increase with decrease in the thermal radiation parameter and Prandtl number, whereas the reverse effect is observed with increase of Dufour number. Further, the concentration profiles increase with increase in the Soret number whereas reverse effect is seen by increasing the values of the Schmidt number.

Graphical abstract