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PurposeThis paper aims to numerically investigate the two-dimensional unsteady laminar magnetohydrodynamic bioconvection flow and heat transfer of an electrically conducting non-Newtonian Casson thin film with uniform thickness over a horizontal elastic sheet emerging from a slit in the presence of viscous dissipation. The composite effects of variable heat, mass, nanoparticle volume fraction and gyrotactic micro-organism flux are considered as is hydrodynamic (wall) slip. The Buongiorno nanoscale model is deployed which features Brownian motion and thermophoresis effects. The model studies the manufacturing fluid dynamics of smart magnetic bio-nano-polymer coatings.Design/methodology/approachThe coupled non-linear partial differential boundary-layer equations governing the flow, heat and nano-particle and micro-organism mass transfer are reduced to a set of coupled non-dimensional equations using the appropriate transformations and then solved as an nonlinear boundary value problem with the semi-numerical Liao homotopy analysis method (HAM).Validation with a generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) numerical technique is included.FindingsAn increase in velocity slip results in a significant decrement in skin friction coefficient and Sherwood number, whereas it generates a substantial enhancement in Nusselt number and motile micro-organism number density. The computations reveal that the bioconvection Schmidt number decreases the micro-organism concentration and boundary-layer thickness which is attributable to a rise in viscous diffusion rate. Increasing bioconvection Péclet number substantially elevates the temperatures in the regime, thermal boundary layer thickness, nanoparticle concentration values and nano-particle species boundary layer thickness. The computations demonstrate the excellent versatility of HAM and GDQ in solving nonlinear multi-physical nano-bioconvection flows in thermal sciences and furthermore are relevant to application in the synthesis of smart biopolymers, microbial fuel cell coatings, etc.Research limitations/implicationsThe numerical study is valid for two-dimensional, unsteady, laminar Casson film flow with nanoparticles over an elastic sheet in presence of variable heat, mass and nanoparticle volume fraction flux. The film has uniform thickness and flow is transpiring from slit which is fixed at origin.Social implicationsThe study has significant applications in the manufacturing dynamics of nano-bio-polymers and the magnetic field control of materials processing systems. Furthermore, it is relevant to application in the synthesis of smart biopolymers, microbial fuel cell coatings, etc.Originality/valueThe originality of the study is to address the simultaneous effects of unsteady and variable surface fluxes on Casson nanofluid transport of gyrotactic bio-convection thin film over a stretching sheet in the presence of a transverse magnetic field. Validation of HAM with a GDQ numerical technique is included. The present numerical approaches (HAM and GDQ) offer excellent promise in simulating such multi-physical problems of interest in thermal thin film rheological fluid dynamics.

Purpose This paper aims to deal with the study of heat and mass transfer on double-diffusive three-dimensional hydromagnetic boundary layer flow of an electrically conducting Casson nanofluid over a stretching surface. The combined effects of nonlinear thermal radiation, magnetic field, buoyancy forces, thermophoresis and Brownian motion are taken into consideration with convective boundary conditions. Design/methodology/approach Similarity transformations are used to reduce the governing partial differential equations into a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. The reduced equations were numerically solved using Runge–Kutta–Fehlberg fourth-fifth-order method along with shooting technique. Findings The impact of several existing physical parameters such as Casson parameter, mixed convection parameter, regular buoyancy ratio parameter, radiation parameter, Brownian motion parameter, thermophoresis parameter, temperature ratio parameter on velocity, temperature, solutal and nanofluid concentration profiles are analyzed through graphs and tables in detail. It is found that the solutal component increases for Dufour Lewis number, whereas it decreases for nanofluid Lewis number. Moreover, velocity profiles decrease for Casson parameter, while the Nusselt number increases for Biot number, radiation and temperature ratio parameter. Originality/value This paper is a new work related to three-dimensional double-diffusive flow of Casson nanofluid with buoyancy and nonlinear thermal radiation effect.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to numerically solve the problem of an unsteady squeezing three-dimensional flow and heat transfer of a nanofluid in rotating vertical channel of stretching left plane. The fluid is assumed to be Newtonian, incompressible and electrically conducting embedded with nanoparticles. Effect of internal heat generation/ absorption is also considered in energy equation. Four different types of nanoparticles are considered, namely, copper (Cu), alumina (Al2O3), silver (Ag) and titanium oxide (TiO2) with the base fluid as water. Maxwell-Garnetts and Brinkman models are, respectively, employed to calculate the effective thermal conductivity and viscosity of the nanofluid. Design/methodology/approach – Using suitable similarity transformations, the governing partial differential equations are transformed into set of ordinary differential equations. Resultant equations have been solved numerically using Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg fourth fifth order method for different values of the governing parameters. Effects of pertinent parameters on normal, axial and tangential components of velocity and temperature distributions are presented through graphs and discussed in detail. Further, effects of nanoparticle volume fraction, squeezing parameter, suction/injection parameter and heat source/sink parameter on skin friction and local Nusselt number profiles for different nanoparticles are presented in tables and analyzed. Findings – Squeezing effect enhances the temperature field and consequently reduces the heat transfer rate. Large values of mixed convection parameter showed a significant effect on velocity components. Also, in many heat transfer applications, nanofluids are potentially useful because of their novel properties. They exhibit high-thermal conductivity compared to the base fluids. Further, squeezing and rotation effects are desirable in control the heat transfer. Originality/value – Three-dimensional mixed convection flows over in rotating vertical channel filled with nanofluid are very rare in the literature. Mixed convection squeezing three-dimensional flow in a rotating channel filled with nanofluid is first time investigated.

Purpose – The purpose of this work is to study the mixed convection boundary layer flow past a vertical cylinder in a porous medium saturated with a nanofluid. Numerical results for friction factor, surface heat transfer rate and mass transfer rate have been presented for parametric variations of the buoyancy ratio parameter Nr, Brownian motion parameter Nb, thermophoresis parameter Nt and Lewis number Le. The dependency of the surface heat transfer rate (Nusselt number) and mass transfer rate on these parameters has been discussed. Design/methodology/approach – Solutions of the set of non-similarity equations are obtained by employing the implicit finite difference method together with Keller box elimination method. Findings – It was found that the heat transfer rate decreases and mass transfer rates increase as Lewis number increases. The heat and mass transfer rates increase as the buoyancy ration parameter increases. As the thermophoresis parameter Nt increases, the heat transfer rate decreases where as the mass transfer rate increases. As the Brownian parameter Nb increases, the heat transfer rate decreases. Brownian motion decelerates the flow in the nanofluid boundary layer. Brownian diffusion promotes heat conduction. The heat and mass transfer rates increase as the buoyancy ratio number Nr increases. The Brownian motion and thermophoresis of nanoparticles increases the effective thermal conductivity of the nanofluid. Both Brownian diffusion and thermophoresis give rise to cross diffusion terms that are similar to the familiar Soret and Dufour cross-diffusion terms that arise with a binary fluid. Research limitations/implications – The analysis is valid for steady, mixed convection two-dimensional boundary layer flow in a nanofluid-saturated Darcy porous medium. An extension to non-Darcy porous medium is left as a part of future study. Practical implications – The research is applicable for enhancing heat exchanger effectiveness by employing nanofluids. Originality/value – The study is useful to engineers interested in designing heat exchangers, water and atmospheric pollution.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to conduct a numerical study of the convection heat transfer in porous media by the homotopy analysis method (HAM). The geometry considered is that of a rectangular profile fin. The porous fin allows the flow to infiltrate through it and solid-fluid interaction takes place. This study is performed using Darcy's model to formulate heat transfer equation. To study the thermal performance, three types of cases are considered namely long fin, finite length fin with insulated tip and finite length fin with tip exposed. The theory section addresses the derived governing equation. The effects of the porosity parameter Sh, radiation parameter G and temperature ratio CT on the dimensionless temperature distribution and heat transfer rate are discussed. The results suggest that the radiation transfers more heat than a similar model without radiation. The auxiliary parameter in the HAM is derived by using the averaged residual error concept which significantly reduces the computational time. The use of optimal auxiliary parameter provides a superior control on the convergence and accuracy of the analytic solution. Design/methodology/approach – This study is performed using Darcy's model to formulate heat transfer equation. To study the thermal performance, three types of cases are considered namely long fin, finite length fin with insulated tip and finite length fin with tip exposed. The effects of the porosity parameter Sh, radiation parameter G and temperature ratio CT on the dimensionless temperature distribution and heat transfer rate are discussed. Findings – The HAM has been successfully applied for the thermal performance of a porous fin of rectangular profile. Solutions are derived for three cases of tip condition: an infinitely long fin with tip in thermal equilibrium with the ambient, a finite fin with an insulated tip and a finite fin with a convective tip. The performance of the fin depends on three dimensionless parameters; porosity parameter Sh, radiation-conduction parameter G and a dimensionless temperature relating the ambient and base temperatures. The results show that the base heat flow increases when the permeability of the medium is high and/or when the buoyancy effect induced in the fluid is strong. The base heat flow is enhanced as the surface radiation or the tip Biot number increases. Research limitations/implications – The analysis is made for the Darcy's model. Non-Darcy effects will be investigated in a future work. Practical implications – The approach is useful in enhancing heat transfer rates. Originality/value – The results of the study will be interested to the researchers of the field of heat exchanger designers.

Purpose – The purpose of this work is to study the effect of surface-radiation on the phenomenon of natural convection flow of a Newtonian fluid in a non-Darcian porous media cavity. The study is mainly focused on the interaction between the inertial resistance of the fluid layers and the surface radiation. Design/methodology/approach – For numerical simulation of transient vorticity transport and energy equations, the paper uses the alternate direct implicit method. Forward Time Central Space descretization is used for the transient and diffusion terms in the alternate direct implicit method, whereas for the convective terms, the method is modified using second upwind differencing technique. ADI method is adopted here, since this technique is unconditionally stable as a complete sweep and is second-order accurate in time for low velocity changes. The stream function equation is solved using the successive over relaxation technique with residual tolerance of order 10-5. Findings – It was found that despite the reduction of flow, the heat transfer increases as the Forschheimer resistance is increased. Further, with the increase in the Planck number, the heat transfer from the bottom radiating wall increases. Darcy drag parameter did not have a significant impact on flow properties except a slight reduction in the flow. Nevertheless, the increase in temperature ratio has a significant impact on flow properties. Research limitations/implications – The analysis is valid for unsteady, two-dimensional natural convection flow in a fluid-saturated non-Darcy porous medium enclosed by non-isothermal walls. As a first case, the study is conducted for square cavity. An extension to three-dimensional flow case and the study of Darcy-Forschheimer medium with effect of viscous dissipation is left as a part of future work. Practical implications – The approach is applicable to the modeling of geothermal systems where the inertial resistance to flow also comes into act with the non-uniform temperature distribution. The method is very useful to analyze solar receiver systems, fire research, electronic cooling, brake housing of an aircraft and many environmental geothermal processes. Originality/value – The study may be of some interest to engineers interested in heat transfer in ventilated rooms or enclosures, the industrial waste, water and atmospheric pollution.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to conduct a numerical study of the effect of magnetic field on thermocapillary convection of a two layered system of Newtonian fluids, confined in a rectangular cavity. The flow within the cavity is subject to the horizontal temperature gradient. Attention is focused on how the heat transfer and flow properties are affected subject to the applied magnetic field, particularly in the lower layer. For this purpose, the fluid combinations of di‐Boron Trioxide (B2O3) over Gallium Arsenide GaAs (III‐V), and Silicon oil 10 cSt over Fluorinert FC 70 are considered in the present study.Design/methodology/approachThe non‐linear two‐dimensional vorticity transport equations along with the energy equations are solved for the two liquid layers using the Alternate Direct Implicit method, whereas the elliptic partial differential equations of the stream function are solved using the Successive Over Relaxation method.FindingsIt was found that despite the significant reduction of flow in the two layers, the number of cells in the lower layer increases with the increase in Hartmann number Ha. However, the flow intensity decreases with the increase in Hartmann number. This decrease is more pronounced in the lower layer, as compared to the upper layer. The numerical scheme employed for the solution is found to be in good agreement with the previous work.Research limitations/implicationsThe analysis is made for two layer liquid system with undeformable interface and free surface. The detailed study of the effect of magnetic field on oscillatory Marangoni convection in two layer system with deformable interface is left for future work.Practical implicationsThe approach is useful in optimizing the flow properties of the fluids in a two layer system, particularly the lower layer, to yield the results of potential practical interest.Originality/valueThe results of the study may be of some interest to researchers in the field of semiconductor technology, as the melt control is intensively investigated for the development in the manufacture of defect‐free semiconductors and crystals.