Mathematical Problems in Engineering
Volume 2010 (2010), Article ID 491319, 14 pages
doi:10.1155/2010/491319
Research Article

Using Differential Transform Method and Padé Approximant for Solving MHD Flow in a Laminar Liquid Film from a Horizontal Stretching Surface

Mohammad Mehdi Rashidi and Mohammad Keimanesh

Mechanical Engineering Department, Engineering Faculty of Bu-Ali Sina University, P.O. Box 65175-4161 Hamedan, Iran

Received 12 November 2009; Accepted 20 January 2010

Academic Editor: Mehrdad Massoudi

Copyright © 2010 Mohammad Mehdi Rashidi and Mohammad Keimanesh. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to approximate the stream function and temperature distribution of the MHD flow in a laminar liquid film from a horizontal stretching surface. In this paper DTM-Padé method was used which is a combination of differential transform method (DTM) and Padé approximant. The DTM solutions are only valid for small values of independent variables. Comparison between the solutions obtained by the DTM and the DTM-Padé with numerical solution (fourth-order Runge–Kutta) revealed that the DTM-Padé method is an excellent method for solving MHD boundary-layer equations.