A numerical study of the axisymmetric rotational stagnation point flow impinging radially a permeable stretching/shrinking surface in a nanofluid

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to analyze numerically the steady axisymmetric rotational stagnation point flow impinging on a radially permeable stretching/shrinking sheet in a nanofluid.Design/methodology/approachSimilarity transformation is used to convert the system of partial differential equations into a system of ordinary (similarity) differential equations. This system is then reduced to a system of first-order differential equations and solved numerically using the bvp4c function in MATLAB software.FindingsDual solutions exist when the surface is stretched, as well as when the surface is shrunk. For these solutions, a stability analysis is carried out revealing that the first solution (upper branch) is stable and physically realizable, while the second solution (lower branch) is unstable and therefore not physically realizable.Originality/valueThe present results are original and new for the study of fluid flow and heat transfer over a stretching/shrinking surface, as they successfully extend the problem considered by Weidman (2016) to the case of nanofluids.