Study of graphene Maxwell nanofluid flow past a linearly stretched sheet: A numerical and statistical approach

Abstract

This study aims to unfold the significance of numerous physical parameters such as magnetic field, heat absorption, thermal radiation, viscous and Joule dissipations, etc. on the flow of graphene Maxwell nanofluid over a linearly stretched sheet with considerations of momentum and thermal slip conditions. The prevailing mathematical equations are reformed into extremely nonlinear coupled ordinary differential equations (ODE) utilizing similarity variables and then the equations are solved numerically by the scheme of Runge-Kutta Fehlberg method along with the shooting technique. The variations in graphene Maxwell nanofluid velocity and temperature owing to different physical parameters are shown via numerous graphs whereas numerical values of skin friction coefficients and Nusselt numbers are illustrated and reported in different tables. In addition, statistical approach is followed for the multiple regression estimation analysis on the numerical findings of wall velocity gradient and local Nusselt number and are reported in tabular form to demonstrate the relationship among the heat transfer rate and physical parameters. Our results reveal that the graphene Maxwell nanofluid velocity gets reduced owing to enhancement in magnetic field, angle of inclination of magnetic field, porosity and unsteadiness parameters whereas behavior of nanofluid velocity is reversed due to Maxwell parameter. Further, it is noticed that the heat transfer rate of nanofluid is augmented owing to heat absorption, radiation and thermal slip parameters while it is reduced due to increase in viscous dissipation and unsteadiness parameters. The numerical results of the paper are validated by making comparisons with the earlier published paper under the restricted conditions and we found an excellent agreement with those results. A careful review of research papers reported in literature reveals that none of the authors has attempted this problem earlier although the thoughts and methodology explained in this paper can be anticipated to lead to enormously prolific connections across disciplines.