The impacts of thermal radiation and viscous dissipation for the Falkner-Skan flow past a wedge in the presence of nanoparticles suspended in a viscous fluid

Abstract

The influences of thermal radiation and non -uniform heat source/sink in Falkner-Skan flow and heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids have been investigated. Three different types of nanoparticles, namely Copper, Cu, Alumina Al₂O₃, and Titania TiO₂ are considered by using water-based fluid with Prandtl number Pr = 6.2. The partial differential equations are transformed into the system of ordinary differential equations by applying similarity transformations which is then solved numerically. The result revealed that utilizing Cu-water nanofluid enhanced the heat transfer rate in comparison with Al₂O₃ -water and TiO₂ -water nanofluids. The heat transfer rate is significantly boosted with an increase in the radiation parameter. Further, the opposite trend is observed with an increase in source/sink parameters and Eckert number.