MHD boundary layer flow and heat transfer characteristics of a nanofluid over a stretching sheet

Abstract

Abstract The study of radiative heat transfer in a nanofluid with the influence of magnetic field over a stretching surface is investigated numerically. Physical mechanisms responsible for magnetic parameter, radiation parameter between the nanoparticles and the base fluid, such as Brownian motion and thermophoresis, are accounted for in the model. The parameters for Prandtl number Pr, Eckert number Ec, Lewis number Le, stretching parameter b/a and constant parameter m are examined. The governing partial differential equations were converted into nonlinear ordinary differential equations by using a suitable similarity transformation, which are solved numerically using the Nactsheim-Swigert shooting technique together with Runge-Kutta six order iteration scheme. The accuracy of the numerical method is tested by performing various comparisons with previously published work and the results are found to be in excellent agreement. Numerical results for velocity, temperature and concentration distributions as well as skin-friction coefficient, Nusselt number and Sherwood number are discussed at the sheet for various values of physical parameters.