Radiation effect on laminar boundary layer flow of nanofluid over a flat plate

Abstract

Nanofluids are a new class of advanced heat transfer fluids, which are liquids containing a dispersion of submicronic solid particles or nanoparticles. Thus, nanofluids have many applications in industry such as coolants, lubricants, heat exchanges and many more. In this study, the mathematical modelling of radiation effect on laminar boundary layer flow of nanofluid over a flat plate is investigated numerically. The basic governing nonlinear partial differential equations are transformed into a system of coupled nonlinear ordinary differential equations by using appropriate similarity transformation. These equations are solved numerically using implicit finite difference scheme known as Keller-box method. The system is discretized using finite difference method. Then, the nonlinear equations are linearized by Newton’s method and solved by the block elimination method. The numerical codes in the form of software packages have been developed using Matlab to analyze the result. Finally, the numerical results are obtained for heat transfer, velocity and temperature profiles with the effect of Prandtl number, ???? and radiation parameter, ???? . These studies also discussed the effect of volume fraction on Prandtl number, density, heat capacity, thermal conductivity and viscosity for Copper and Alumina water Nanofluid respectively.