Abstract
This study is concerned with peristaltic flow of a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) fluid in an asymmetric channel. Asymmetry in the flow is induced by waves on the channel walls having different amplitudes and phase. A systematic approach based on an expansion of Deborah number is used for the solution series. Analytic expressions have been developed for the stream function, axial velocity and axial pressure gradient. The pressure rise over a wavelength has been addressed through numerical integration. Particular attention has been given to the effects of Hartman number and Deborah number on the pressure rise over a wavelength and the trapping phenomenon. Several limiting solutions of interest are obtained as the special cases of the presented analysis by taking the appropriate parameter(s) to be zero. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.