Mixed convection flow of a nanofluid past a non-linearly stretching wall

Abstract

This paper deals with the boundary-layer mixed convective flow of a viscous nanofluid past a vertical wall stretching with non-linear velocity. The governing equations are transformed into self similar ordinary differential equations using appropriate transformation. Using group theoretic method it is shown that the similarity solutions are possible only for the non-linear stretching velocity having specific form. Numerical solution of the coupled governing equations is obtained using Keller Box method. Correlation expression of reduced Nusselt and Sherwood numbers are obtained by performing linear regression on the data obtained from numerical results. The authenticity of these results is established by calculating the percentage error between the numerical results and correlation expression which is observed to be less than 5%. Effects of Brownian and thermophoretic diffusions and nanoparticles concentration flux on the Nusselt and Sherwood numbers are discussed.