Numerical investigation on time-dependent flow of Williamson nanofluid along with heat and mass transfer characteristics past a wedge geometry

Abstract

In the recent times, the nanofluid’s thermal conductivity has become one of the most appealing topic for scientists and researchers due to its application in engineering and industry. So far, a large number of experimental and theoretical studies describing this issue has been presented in this field. These nanofluids have been explored with various volume divisions, different molecule sizes and distinctive production techniques. This paper presents findings from a theoretical study of magnetic-Williamson fluid flow in the presence of suspended nanoparticles. Further, heat and mass transfer properties of nanofluids flow over a wedge shape geometry with convective heating mode are examined. A mathematical model is proposed to narrate the two-dimensional flow problem for Williamson fluid with infinite shear rate of viscosity, to simulate and scrutinize the effects of enhanced heat flux. The time dependent conservation equations governing the flow fields are transformed to dimensionless form using the non-dimensional parameters. These converted equations are solved for non-dimensional velocity, temperature and concentration fields. Numerical computations are performed with the assistance of Nachtsheim-Swigert shooting iteration scheme alongside Runge-Kutta Fehlberg method. The physical behavior of obtained solution are investigated diagrammatically by considering the effects of various pertinent parameters. Numerical results reveal that a rise in fluid temperature is seen with higher convection parameter. A basic analysis further depicts that the rate of heat transfer is accelerated with the growth in Brownian motion and thermophoresis parameter. As well, a correlation is furnished in order to validate the result obtained in this analysis with earlier published works.