Boundary layer flow past a stretching/shrinking surface beneath an external uniform shear flow with a convective surface boundary condition in a nanofluid

Abstract

The problem of a steady boundary layer shear flow over a stretching/shrinking sheet in a nanofluid is studied numerically. The governing partial differential equations are transformed into ordinary differential equations using a similarity transformation, before being solved numerically by a Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg method with shooting technique. Two types of nanofluids, namely, Cu-water and Ag-water are used. The effects of nanoparticle volume fraction, the type of nanoparticles, the convective parameter, and the thermal conductivity on the heat transfer characteristics are discussed. It is found that the heat transfer rate at the surface increases with increasing nanoparticle volume fraction while it decreases with the convective parameter. Moreover, the heat transfer rate at the surface of Cu-water nanofluid is higher than that at the surface of Ag-water nanofluid even though the thermal conductivity of Ag is higher than that of Cu. © 2011 Yacob et al.