Hybrid nanofluid flow close to a stagnation point past a porous shrinking sheet

Abstract

This study explains the steady flow of a hybrid nanofluid due to a permeable shrinking sheet close to a stagnation region with suction/injection. By proper transformations, the leading differential equations, partial in nature, are reduced to nonlinear differential equations with a single independent variable. A combination of the Runge–Kutta method and a shooting technique is applied to unravel those nonlinear equations. The effects of various parameters on the flow and thermal fields are presented graphically and analyzed. Also, for various physical parameters, wall shear stress, and the heat transport coefficient are computed numerically and discussed in detail. For the boundary value problem, multiple (two) solutions are obtained for a definite choice of governing parameters. Hence, a stability analysis is carried out, indicating that the first branch of the solution is stable and physically realistic. The unsteady equations are considered for implementing the stability analysis. Furthermore, in a hybrid nanofluid flow, a higher heat transfer rate than a nanofluid is observed. The separation of the boundary layer occurs. Also, with a rise in the value of the nanoparticle volume fraction of Al2O3, the critical value of the suction parameter increases.