MHD FREE CONVECTION FLOW OF A NANOFLUID PAST A VERTICAL PLATE IN THE PRESENCE OF HEAT GENERATION OR ABSORPTION EFFECTS

Abstract

This work is focused on the numerical solution of steady natural convection boundary-layer flow of a nanofluid consisting of a pure fluid with nanoparticles along a permeable vertical plate in the presence of magnetic field, heat generation or absorption, and suction or injection effects. The model used for the nanofluid incorporates the effects of Brownian motion and thermophoresis. The governing boundary-layer equations of the problem are formulated and transformed into a non-similar form. The obtained equations are then solved numerically by an efficient, iterative, tri-diagonal, implicit finite-difference method. Comparisons with previously published work are performed and are found to be in excellent agreement. Representative results for the longitudinal velocity, temperature, and nanoparticle volume fraction profiles as well as the local heat transfer rates for various values of the physical parameters are displayed in both graphical and tabular forms.