Dual solutions of a mixed convection flow near the stagnation point region over an exponentially stretching/shrinking sheet in nanofluids

The aim of this paper is to study the development of mixed convection flow near the stagnation point region over an exponentially stretching/shrinking sheet in nanofluids. The external flow, stretching velocity and wall temperature are assumed to vary as prescribed exponential functions. Using the local similarity method, it has been shown that dual solutions of velocity and temperature exist for certain values of suction/injection, mixed convection, nanoparticle volume fraction and stretching/shrinking parameters. The transformed non-linear ordinary differential equations along with the boundary conditions form a two point boundary value problem and are solved using Shooting method, by converting into an initial value problem. In this method, the system of equations is converted into a set of first order system which is solved by fourth-order Runge–Kutta method. Three different types of nanoparticles, namely copper (Cu), aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃) and titanium oxide (TiO₂) are considered by using water-based fluid with Prandtl number Pr = 6.2. It is also found that the skin friction coefficient and the heat transfer rate at the surface are highest for Copper–water nanofluids as compared to Al₂O₃. The effect of the solid volume fraction parameter φ of the nanofluids on the heat transfer characteristics is also investigated. The results indicate that dual solutions exist only for shrinking sheet. The effects of various parameters on the velocity and temperature profiles are also presented here.     

Mixed convection boundary layer flow past a wedge with permeable walls

The effects of suction/injection on steady laminar mixed convection boundary layer flow over a permeable horizontal surface of a wedge in a viscous and incompressible fluid is considered in this paper. The similarity solutions of the governing boundary layer equations are obtained for some values of the suction/injection parameter f ₀, the constant exponent m of the wall temperature as well as the mixed convection parameter λ. The resulting system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations is solved numerically for both assisting and opposing flow regimes using an implicit finite-difference scheme known as the Keller-box method. Numerical results for the reduced skin friction coefficient, the local Nusselt number, and the velocity and temperature profiles are obtained for various values of parameters considered. Dual solutions are found to exist for the case of opposing flow.     

MHD mixed convection stagnation-point flow of a nanofluid over a vertical permeable surface: a comprehensive report of dual solutions

The steady laminar magnetohydrodynamic mixed convection boundary layer flow of a nanofluid near the stagnation-point on a vertical permeable plate with prescribed external flow and surface temperature is investigated in this study. Here, both assisting and opposing flows are considered and studied. Using appropriate similarity variables, the governing equations are transformed into nonlinear ordinary differential equations in the dimensionless stream function, which is solved numerically using the Runge–Kutta scheme coupled with a conventional shooting procedure. Three different types of nanoparticles, namely copper Cu, alumina Al₂O₃ and titania TiO₂ with water as the base fluid are considered. Numerical results are obtained for the skin-friction coefficient and Nusselt number as well as for the velocity and temperature profiles for some values of the governing parameters, namely, the volume fraction of nanoparticles ?, permeability parameter f _o , magnetic parameter M and mixed convection parameter λ. It is found that dual solutions exist for both assisting and opposing flows, and the range of the mixed convection parameter for which the solution exists, increases with suction, magnetic field and volume fraction of nanoparticles.     

Slip effects on unsteady mixed convection of hybrid nanofluid flow near the stagnation point

The unsteady mixed convection of the Al2O3-Cu/H2O hybrid nanofluid flow near the stagnation point past a vertical plate is analyzed. The bvp4c technique is used to solve the resulting ordinary differential equations. The combined effects of the velocity and thermal slip are addressed. The effects of different relevant physical parameters are studied numerically. The results show that the heat transfer rate is reduced when the volume fraction of the nanoparticles increases, while the unsteadiness...     

Steady laminar mixed convection stagnation-point flow of a nanofluid over a vertical permeable surface in the presence of a magnetic field

A similarity solution for a steady laminar mixed convection boundary layer flow of a nanofluid near the stagnation point on a vertical permeable plate with a magnetic field and a buoyancy force is obtained by solving a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. These equations are solved analytically by using a new kind of a powerful analytic technique for nonlinear problems, namely, the homotopy analysis method (HAM). Three different types of nanoparticles, namely, copper (Cu), alumina (Al₂O₃), and titanium oxide (TiO₂), with water as the base fluid are considered. The influence of the volume fraction of nanoparticles, permeability parameter, magnetic parameter, and mixed convection parameter on the surface shear stress and surface heat transfer, as well as on the velocity and temperature profiles, is considered. It is observed that the skin friction coefficient and the local Nusselt number increase with the nanoparticle volume fraction for all types of nanoparticles considered in this study. The greatest values of the skin friction coefficient and the local Nusselt number are obtained for Cu nanoparticles.     

MHD mixed convective heat transfer flow about an inclined plate

Mixed convection heat transfer about a semi-infinite inclined plate in the presence of magneto and thermal radiation effects is studied. The fluid is assumed to be incompressible and dense. The nonlinear coupled parabolic partial differential equations governing the flow are transformed into the non-similar boundary layer equations, which are then solved numerically using the Keller box method. The effects of the mixed convection parameter R _i, the angle of inclination α, the magnetic parameter M and the radiation–conduction parameter R _d on the velocity and temperature profiles as well as on the local skin friction and local heat transfer parameters. For some specific values of the governing parameters, the results are compared with those available in the literature and a fairly good agreement is obtained.     

Stability of dual solutions in stagnation-point flow and heat transfer over a porous shrinking sheet with thermal radiation

An analysis is carried out to study the steady two-dimensional stagnation-point flow and heat transfer of an incompressible viscous fluid over a porous shrinking sheet in the presence of thermal radiation. A set of similarity transformations reduce the boundary layer equations to a set of non-linear ordinary differential equations which are solved numerically using fourth order Runge-Kutta method with shooting technique. The analysis of the result obtained shows that as the porosity parameter β increases, the range of region of existence of similarity solution increases. It is also observed that multiple solutions exist for a certain range of the ratio of the shrinking velocity to the free stream velocity (i.e., α) which again depends on β. We then discuss the stability of the unsteady solutions about each steady solution, showing that one steady state solution corresponds to a stable solution whereas the other corresponds to an unstable solution. The stable solution corresponds to the physically relevant solution. Further we obtain numerical results for each solution, which enable us to discuss the features of the respective solutions.     

Radiation effect on mixed convection over an isothermal cone in porous media

The radiation effect on the mixed convection flow of an optically dense viscous fluid adjacent to an isothermal cone embedded in a saturated porous medium with Rosseland diffusion approximation is numerically investigated. The entire regime of the mixed convection is included, as the mixed convection parameter of χ varies from 0 (pure free convection) to 1 (pure forced convection). The transformed nonlinear system of equations is solved by using an implicit finite difference method. Numerical results are given for the dimensionless temperature profiles and the local Nusselt number for various values of the mixed convection parameter χ, the cone angle parameter m, the radiation-conduction parameter R _d and the surface temperature parameter H. The local Nusselt number decreases initially, reaches a minimum in the intermediate value of χ and then increases gradually. It is apparent that increasing the cone angle parameter m enhances the local Nusselt number. The local Nusselt number is significantly increased for the large values of the radiation-conduction parameter R _d and the surface temperature parameter H, i.e., radiation effect becomes pronounced. Received on 25 October 1999     

Mixed convection boundary layer flow over a horizontal circular cylinder with Newtonian heating

The steady mixed convection boundary layer flow over a horizontal circular cylinder, generated by Newtonian heating in which the heat transfer from the surface is proportional to the local surface temperature, is considered in this study. The governing boundary layer equations are first transformed into a system of non-dimensional equations via the non-dimensional variables, and then into non-similar equations before they are solved numerically using a numerical scheme known as the Keller-box method. Numerical solutions are obtained for the skin friction coefficient Re ^1/2 C _f and the local wall temperature θ _w (x) as well as the velocity and temperature profiles with two parameters, namely the mixed convection parameter λ and the Prandtl number Pr.     

Thermal radiation effect on a mixed convection flow and heat transfer of the Williamson fluid past an exponentially shrinking permeable sheet with a convective boundary condition

The thermal radiation effect on a steady mixed convective flow with heat transfer of a nonlinear (non-Newtonian) Williamson fluid past an exponentially shrinking porous sheet with a convective boundary condition is investigated numerically. In this study, both an assisting flow and an opposing flow are considered. The governing equations are converted into nonlinear ordinary differential equations by using a suitable transformation. A numerical solution of the problem is obtained by using the Matlab software package for different values of the governing parameters. The results show that dual nonsimilar solutions exist for the opposing flow, whereas the solution for the assisting flow is unique. It is also observed that the dual nonsimilar solutions exist only if a certain amount of mass suction is applied through the porous sheet, which depends on the Williamson parameter, convective parameter, and radiation parameter.     

Mixed convection boundary layer flow along vertical moving thin needles with variable heat flux

The problem of steady laminar mixed convection boundary layer flow of an incompressible viscous fluid along vertical moving thin needles with variable heat flux for both assisting and opposing flow cases is theoretically considered in this paper. The governing boundary layer equations are first transformed into non-dimensional forms. The curvature effects are incorporated into the analysis whereas the pressure variation in the axial direction has been neglected. These equations are then transformed into similarity equations using the similarity variables, which are solved numerically using an implicit finite-difference scheme known as the Keller-box method. The solutions are obtained for a blunt-nosed needle (m = 0). Numerical calculations are carried out for various values of the dimensionless parameters of the problem, which include the mixed convection parameter λ, the Prandtl number Pr and the parameter a representing the needle size. It is shown from the numerical results that the skin friction coefficient, the surface (wall) temperature and the velocity and temperature profiles are significantly influenced by these parameters. The results are presented in graphical form and are discussed in detail.     

Laminar Mixed Convection Adjacent to Vertical Continuously Stretching Sheets With Variable Viscosity and Variable Thermal Diffusivity

The paper presents a study of the laminar mixed convection adjacent to vertical continuously stretching sheets, taking into account the effects of variable viscosity and variable thermal diffusivity. The similarity solutions are reported for isothermal sheet moving with a velocity of the form u_w=Bx^0.5 and a continuous linearly stretching sheet with a linear surface temperature distribution. The equations of conservation of mass, momentum and energy, which govern the flow and heat transfer, are solved numerically by using the shooting method. The numerical results obtained for the flow and heat transfer characteristics reveal many interesting behaviors. The numerical results show that, variable viscosity, variable thermal diffusivity, the velocity exponent parameter, the temperature exponent parameter and the buoyancy force parameter have significant influences on the velocity and temperature profiles, shear stress and Nusselt number in two cases air and water.     

Slip effects on a mixed convection flow of a third-grade fluid near the orthogonal stagnation point on a vertical surface

A mixed convection flow of a third-grade fluid near the orthogonal stagnation point on a vertical surface with slip and viscous dissipation effects is investigated. The governing partial differential equations for the third-grade fluid are converted into a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations by using a similarity transformation. The effects of various parameters, including the Weissenberg number, third-grade parameter, local Reynolds number, Prandtl number, Eckert number, mixed convection parameter, velocity slip, and thermal slip on the velocity and temperature profiles, local skin friction coefficient, and local Nusselt number are discussed.     

Unsteady thermal response of a porous fin under the influence of natural convection and radiation

In this study, the effects of transient thermal performance of a rectangular porous fin in the presence of radiation and natural convection heat transfer are considered. The porous fin allows the flow to infiltrate through it and solid–fluid interaction takes place. This study is performed using Darcy’s model to formulate heat transfer equation. To study the thermal performance, three types of cases are considered, namely, long fin, finite length fin with insulated tip and finite length fin with tip exposed. The effects of the porosity parameter S_h, radiation parameter G and the temperature ratio C_T on the dimensionless transient temperature distribution and heat transfer rate are discussed.     

Radiative and Thermal Dispersion Effects on Non-Darcy Natural Convection with Lateral Mass Flux for Non-Newtonian Fluid from a Vertical Flat Plate in a Saturated Porous Medium

The problem of natural convective heat transfer for a non-Newtonian fluid from an impermeable vertical plate embedded in a fluid-saturated porous medium has been analyzed. Non-Darcian, radiative and thermal dispersion effects have been considered in the present analysis. The governing boundary layer equations and boundary conditions are cast into a dimensionless form and simplified by using a similarity transformation. The resulting system of equations is solved by using a double shooting Runge–Kutta method. The effect of viscosity index n, the conduction–radiation parameter R, the non-Darcy parameter Gr*, the thermal dispersion parameter Ds and the suction/injection parameter f_w on the fluid velocities, temperatures and the local Nusselt number are discussed.     

Radiation-conduction interaction on mixed convection from a horizontal circular cylinder

A mixed convection flow of an optically dense viscous incompressible fluid along a horizontal circular cylinder has been studied with the effect of radiation when the surface temperature is uniform. Using appropriate transformations, the boundary layer equations governing the flow are reduced to local nonsimilarity form. Solutions of the governing equations are obtained employing the implicit finite difference method. Effects of varying the pertinent parameters, such as, the Planck number, R _w the surface temperature parameter, θ_w and the buoyancy parameter, α on the local skin-friction and local heat transfer coefficients are shown graphically as well as in tabular form against the curvature parameter ξ, while taking Prandtl number Pr = 1.0. It is found that an increase of R _d,θ_w or α leads to increases in the values of the local skin-friction and the local rate of heat transfer coefficients. At the stagnation point asymptotic solutions for large value of α are also obtained and the effect of the other pertinent parameters on the formation of the flow separation are studied. Received on 28 July 1998     

Mixed convection boundary-layer flow on a horizontal flat surface with a convective boundary condition

The steady mixed convection boundary-layer flow on an upward facing horizontal surface heated convectively is considered. The problem is reduced to similarity form, a necessary requirement for which is that the outer flow and surface heat transfer coefficient are spatially dependent. The resulting similarity equations involve, apart from the Prandtl number, two dimensionless parameters, a measure of the relative strength of the outer flow M and a heat transfer coefficient γ. The free convection, M=0, case is considered with the asymptotic limits of large and small γ being derived. Results for the general, M>0, case are presented and the asymptotic limit of large M being treated.     

Entropy analysis in electrical magnetohydrodynamic(MHD) flow of nanofluid with effects of thermal radiation,viscous dissipation,and chemical reaction

The unsteady mixed convection flow of electrical conducting nanofluid and heat transfer due to a permeable linear stretching sheet with the combined effects of an electric field, magnetic field, thermal radiation, viscous dissipation, and chemical reaction have been investigated. A similarity transformation is used to transform the constitutive equations into a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations.The resultant system of equations is then solved numerically using implicit finite difference method.The velocity, temperature, concentration, entropy generation, and Bejan number are obtained with the dependence of different emerging parameters examined. It is noticed that the velocity is more sensible with high values of electric field and diminished with a magnetic field. The radiative heat transfer and viscous dissipation enhance the heat conduction in the system. Moreover, the impact of mixed convection parameter and Buoyancy ratio parameter on Bejan number profile has reverse effects. A chemical reaction reduced the nanoparticle concentration for higher values.     

Steady mixed convection boundary layer flow over a vertical flat plate in a porous medium filled with water at 4°C: case of variable wall temperature

The problem of steady mixed convection boundary layer flow over a vertical impermeable flat plate in a porous medium saturated with water at 4°C (maximum density) when the temperature of the plate varies as x ^m and the velocity outside boundary layer varies as x ^{2 m} , where x measures the distance from the leading edge of the plate and m is a constant is studied. Both cases of the assisting and the opposing flows are considered. The plate is aligned parallel to a free stream velocity U _∞ oriented in the upward or downward direction, while the ambient temperature is T _∞ = T _m (temperature at maximum density). The mathematical models for this problem are formulated, analyzed and simplified, and further transformed into non-dimensional form using non-dimensional variables. Next, the system of governing partial differential equations is transformed into a system of ordinary differential equations using the similarity variables. The resulting system of ordinary differential equations is solved numerically using a finite-difference method known as the Keller-box scheme. Numerical results for the non-dimensional skin friction or shear stress, wall heat transfer, as well as the temperature profiles are obtained and discussed for different values of the mixed convection parameter λ and the power index m. All the numerical solutions are presented in the form of tables and figures. The results show that solutions are possible for large values of λ and m for the case of assisting flow. Dual solutions occurred for the case of opposing flow with limited admissible values of λ and m. In addition, separation of boundary layers occurred for opposing flow, and separation is delayed for the case of water at 4°C (maximum density) compared to water at normal temperature.     

MHD flow and heat transfer of a hybrid nanofluid past a permeable stretching/shrinking wedge

The steady flow and heat transfer of a hybrid nanofluid past a permeable stretching/shrinking wedge with magnetic field and radiation effects are studied. The governing equations of the hybrid nanofluid are converted to the similarity equations by techniques of the similarity transformation. The bvp4c function that is available in MATLAB software is utilized for solving the similarity equations numerically. The numerical results are obtained for selected different values of parameters. The results discover that two solutions exist, up to a certain value of the stretching/shrinking and suction strengths. The critical value in which the solution is in existence decreases as nanoparticle volume fractions for copper and wedge angle parameter increase. It is also found that the hybrid nanofluid enhances the heat transfer rate compared with the regular nanofluid. The reduction of the heat transfer rate is observed with the increase in radiation parameter. The temporal stability analysis is performed to analyze the stability of the dual solutions, and it is revealed that only one of them is stable and physically reliable.