Numerical Investigation of a Two-Phase Nanofluid Model for Boundary Layer Flow Past a Variable Thickness Sheet

Abstract

This paper investigates heat and mass transfer of nanofluid over a stretching sheet with variable thickness. The techniques of similarity transformation and homotopy analysis method are used to find solutions. Velocity, temperature, and concentration fields are examined with the variations of governing parameters. Local Nusselt number and Sherwood number are compared for different values of variable thickness parameter. The results show that there exists a critical value of thickness parameterβc(βc≈0.7) where the Sherwood number achieves its maximum at the critical valueβc. Forβ>βc, the distribution of nanoparticle volume fraction decreases near the surface but exhibits an opposite trend far from the surface.