Impact of Non-Similar Modeling for Thermal Transport Analysis of Mixed Convective Flows of Nanofluids Over Vertically Permeable Surface

Abstract

In the current article, non-similar model is developed for mixed convective boundary layer flow over a permeable vertical surface immersed in nanofluid. The flow is initiated due to the plate stretching in vertical direction and by natural means such as buoyancy. The governing dimensional equations are converted to non-dimensional equations through characteristic dimensions. Furthermore the non-similar modeling is done by choosing ξ (X) as non-similarity variable and η(X, Y) as pseudo-similarity variable. The non-similar partial differential system (PDS) is then solved by using local non-similarity method via bvp4c. The heat and mass transfer analysis are carried out by studying local Nusselt and Sherwood numbers in tabular form for some important parameters involved in the non-similar flow. The concentration, velocity and temperature profiles are graphically represented for various dimensionless number such as Prandtl number (Pr), Brownian motion (Nb), Lewis number Le and thermophoresis (Nt). Reversed flow is observed for the velocity profile as non-similar variable is varied. Enhancement in thermal profile is witnessed for Nb, Nt and reduction in temperature is observed for Pr. Concentration is reduced for different values of Pr, Le, Nb. Finally this article intends to develop an intuitive understanding of non-similar models by emphasizing the physical arguments. The authors developed the nonsimilar transformations and tackled the dimensionless non-similar structure by employing the local non-similarity technique. To the best of authors’ observations, no such study is yet published in literature. This study may be valuable for the researchers investigating towards industrial nanofluid applications, notably in geophysical and geothermal systems, heat exchangers, solar water heaters, biomedicine, and many other fields.