Abstract This study examines the stability of double-diffusive convection in a Kuvshiniski viscoelastic nanofluid, in which the fluid is affected by two fields (such as temperature and salinity) that influence its density. The classical Fick’s law, which assumes an immediate response of temperature to the heat flux gradient, is not entirely correct because it suggests an instantaneous reaction at all points, which is not entirely accurate since information propagates at a finite speed. This shortcoming of Fick’s law leads us to consider the Maxwell–Cattaneo effect (MC effect). Thus, our research focuses on Maxwell–Cattaneo double-diffusive convection in a horizontal layer of a porous medium saturated with viscoelastic nanofluid. Here, the fluid’s small dimensions result in its relaxation time being comparable to its thermal diffusion time, necessitating the use of the Maxwell–Cattaneo relationship. The behavior of viscoelastic nanofluids is described by a constitutive equation of the Kuvshiniski kind, and for the porous medium, Brinkman–Darcy model is considered. The nanofluid model includes the effects of Brownian diffusion and thermophoresis, with the assumption that the flux of the nanoparticle volume fraction is zero at the isothermal boundaries. The framework of linear and nonlinear stability theory leads the analysis. By applying linear stability theory with the help of normal mode technique, the conditions for the occurrence of both stationary and oscillatory convective motions are found in terms of a critical thermal Rayleigh number. The Kuvshiniski viscoelastic fluid exhibits Newtonian behavior in a state of stationary convection. We have discussed two cases for oscillatory convection that are when (i) Maxwell–Cattaneo coefficient for temperature (C T ) = 0 and (ii) Maxwell–Cattaneo coefficient for salinity (C C ) = 0. Convective heat and mass transfers are determined using a weakly nonlinear stability analysis. The effects of various factors on oscillatory and stationary states as well as the mass and heat transport are depicted graphically. It is found that with increase in the value of Kuvshiniski parameter F, thermal Rayleigh number Ra also increases for both cases C T = 0 and C C = 0. Ra drops with increasing values of modified diffusivity ratio N A and thermosolutal Lewis number Ls for both stationary as well as oscillatory convection. With increase in the value of Darcy number Da, an interesting pattern can be seen. For stationary convection, Ra increases with Da, but it has reverse effect on oscillatory convection (for both the cases). Streamlines, isotherms, and isohalines are also examined.
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