Stagnation-point flow and heat transfer of a nanofluid adjacent to linearly stretching/shrinking sheet: A numerical study

Abstract

In this study, the steady stagnation point flow and heat transfer of three different types of nanofluid over a linearly shrinking/stretching sheet is investigated numerically. A similarity transformation is used to reduce the governing system of partial differential equations to a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations which are then solved numerically using the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method with shooting technique. The effects of the governing parameters on the nanofluid flow and heat transfer characteristics are analyzed and discussed. Numerical results for the local Nusselt number, skin friction coefficient, velocity profiles and temperature profiles are presented for different values of the solid volume fraction (φ) and for three different types of nanoparticles (Cu, Al2O3 and TiO2) in stretching or shrinking cases. It is found that the skin friction coefficient and the heat transfer rate at the surface are highest for Cu-water nanofluid compared to the Al2O3-water and TiO2-water nanofluids. Furthermore, it was seen that the effect of the solid volume fraction of nanoparticles on the heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics is more important compared to the type of the nanoparticles. © Maxwell Scientific Organization, 2014.