Dual solutions for MHD flow of a water-based TiO2-Cu hybrid nanofluid over a continuously moving thin needle in presence of thermal radiation

Abstract

In this analysis, the flow and heat transfer characteristics of an aqueous hybrid nanofluid with TiO2 and Cu as the nanoparticles past a horizontal slim needle in the presence of thermal radiation effect is investigated. We hope that the present research is applicable in fiber technology, polymer ejection, blood flow, etc. The Prandtl number of the base fluid is kept constant at 6.2. The needle is considered thin when its thickness does not exceed that of the boundary layer over it. Using the similarity transformation method, the governing PDEs are transformed to a set of non-linear ODEs. Then, the converted ODEs are numerically solved with help of bvp4c routine from MATLAB. Results indicate that the dual similarity solutions are obtained only when the slim needle moves in the opposite direction of the free stream. In addition, the first solutions are stable and physically realizable. Besides, the second nanoparticle's mass and also the magnetic parameter lead to decrease the range of the velocity ratio parameter for which the solution exists.