Numerical study and error estimation in power-law nanofluid flow over vertical frustum of a cone

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze the mixed convective Ostwald–de Waele power-law nanofluid flow over vertical frustum of a cone in a non-Darcy porous medium using an efficient numerical technique. The involved power-law nanofluid model utilizes water as the base fluid, and Ti-alloy (Ti6Al4V) and multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as the nanoparticles. The solution of resultant non-similarity equations subjected to boundary conditions is described using the local non-similarity technique along with an efficient spectral local linearization method. The error estimation is provided to show the efficiency of above-mentioned solution procedure. A detailed explanation about the impact of nanoparticle volume fraction on the dimensionless velocity and temperature profiles along with heat transfer rate and skin friction coefficient is also provided for both the opposing and aiding flow cases. On comparison of the present results in particular cases with the relevant published data, it is assured that this method gives highly accurate outcomes for this kind of very complex fluid flow problems. The domination of dilatant nanofluid over pseudo-plastic nanofluid in both the aiding and opposing flow cases is noticed for velocity profiles, and the velocity is decreased with an increment in the nanoparticle volume fraction. Also, the variation in profiles with a streamwise coordinate $$\xi$$ shows non-similar nature of the problem. The use of Ti-alloy and MWCNTs in this work makes it very profitable in various important sectors like aerospace and medical sector.