Affiliations 

  • 1 Institute of Engineering Mathematics, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Arau, Perlis, Malaysia
  • 2 Centre for Modelling and Data Analysis, School of Mathematical Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 3 Department of Mathematics, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
PLoS One, 2014;9(11):e111743.
PMID: 25365118 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0111743

Abstract

The steady two-dimensional flow and heat transfer over a stretching/shrinking sheet in a nanofluid is investigated using Buongiorno's nanofluid model. Different from the previously published papers, in the present study we consider the case when the nanofluid particle fraction on the boundary is passively rather than actively controlled, which make the model more physically realistic. The governing partial differential equations are transformed into nonlinear ordinary differential equations by a similarity transformation, before being solved numerically by a shooting method. The effects of some governing parameters on the fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics are graphically presented and discussed. Dual solutions are found to exist in a certain range of the suction and stretching/shrinking parameters. Results also indicate that both the skin friction coefficient and the local Nusselt number increase with increasing values of the suction parameter.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.