Magnetohydrodynamical Steady Aligned Flow Past an Oblique Flat Plate at a High Reynolds Number

The flow of an electrically conducting viscous fluid past an insulated flat plate at a small incidence, θ, is dealt with by the linearized approximation. The behavior of the flow at large values of viscous Reynolds number, R , magnetic Reynolds number, R m , and pressure number, S , is studied. Four characteristic types of flow are shown. In the first case: 1≪ R ≦ O (1/sin θ) and κ 1 =(1+ R m / R )-[(1- R m / R ) 2 +4 R m S / R ] 1/2 >0, the flow field reduces to the conventional potential flow satisfying the Kutta-Joukowski condition. In the second case: 1≪ R ≦ O (1/sin θ) and κ 1 <0, the flow field becomes the potential flow satisfying the MHD Kutta-Joukowski condition. In the third case: O (1/sin 2 θ)≪ R and κ 1 >0, the flow field consists of a potential field and a wide wake spreading downstream, where the flow is rotational and the velocity almost vanishes. In the last case: O (1/sin 2 θ)≪ R and κ 1 <0, the flow field consists of two wide wakes spreading both up- and downstream.