Significance of nanoparticle radius and inter-particle spacing toward the radiative water-based alumina nanofluid flow over a rotating disk

Abstract

Abstract The study of nanofluid flow over a rotating disk has significant importance because of its enormous range of implementations, including cancer treatments, chemotherapy, nanomedicines, fermentation sciences, selective drug delivery, food sciences, biosensors, biomedicines, and electronics. Due to these applications of nanofluid, the present problem investigates the magnetohydrodynamic flow of nanofluid with nonlinear thermal radiation and viscous dissipation. In this analysis, the aluminum oxide nanoparticles are mixed with water. Furthermore, the mechanism for inter-particle spacing and radius of aluminum oxide nanoparticles on the dynamics of the two-dimensional flow of nanofluid are investigated. The present problem is modeled in the form of partial differential equations (PDEs), and these PDEs are converted into ordinary differential equations with the help of suitable similarity transformations. The analytical solution to the current modeled problem has been obtained by using the homotopy analysis technique. The main purpose of the present research work is to analyze the behavior of the velocity and temperature of the nanofluid for small and large radius of the aluminum oxide nanoparticles and inter-particle spacing. Also, the role of heat transport is computed for linear and nonlinear thermal radiation cases. The major findings and principal results of this investigation are concluded that the primary velocity of nanoliquid is augmented due to the intensification in suction parameter for both the small and larger radius of aluminum oxide nanoparticles. Furthermore, it is perceived that the heat rate transfer is larger when the Eckert number and nanoparticle volume fraction are higher for both nonlinear and linear thermal radiation cases.