On steady two-dimensional Carreau nanofluid flow in the presence of infinite shear rate viscosity

Abstract

This paper examines the steady two-dimensional Carreau nanofluid flow over a stretching surface with infinite shear rate viscosity. The effects of Brownian motion and thermophoresis under the influence of convectively heated surface are analyzed. Using suitable transformations, nonlinear partial differential equations are transformed into ordinary differential equations and solved numerically using the Runge–Kutta–Fehlberg method coupled with the shooting technique. The effects of various physical parameters like local Weissenberg number (We), thermophoresis parameter (Nt), Brownian motion parameter (Nb), Prandtl number (Pr), Lewis number (Le), viscosity ratio parameter (β*), and Biot number (γ*) on the temperature and nanoparticle concentration distributions are displayed graphically and discussed quantitatively. Generally, our results reveal that temperature and nanoparticle concentration distributions are marginally influenced by the viscosity ratio parameter. Further, it is noted that augmented values of viscosity ratio parameter thin the boundary layer thickness in shear thinning fluid and the reverse is true for shear thickening fluid.