Thermophysical effects of carbon nanotubes on MHD flow over a stretching surface

• MHD and CNTs effects are incorporated within the base fluids.
• Three different types of base fluids have been considered.
• Hot fluid along the wall is also considered.
• Obtained coupled ordinary differential equations are investigated numerically.
• Xue model has the best approach to guess the superb thermal conductivity as compare to rest of models.

This article is intended for investigating the effects of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) and volume fraction of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on the flow and heat transfer in two lateral directions over a stretching sheet. For this purpose, three types of base fluids specifically water, ethylene glycol and engine oil with single and multi-walled carbon nanotubes are used in the analysis. The convective boundary condition in the presence of CNTs is presented first time and not been explored so far. The transformed nonlinear differential equations are solved by the Runge–Kutta–Fehlberg method with a shooting technique. The dimensionless velocity and shear stress are obtained in both directions. The dimensionless heat transfer is determined on the surface. Three different models of thermal conductivity are comparable for both CNTs and it is found that the Xue [1] model gives the best approach to guess the superb thermal conductivity in comparison with the Maxwell [2] and Hamilton and Crosser [3] models. And finally, another finding suggests the engine oil provides the highest skin friction and heat transfer rates.

Heat transfer difference for different base fluids in the presence of SWCNTs and MWCNTs. Xue model has the best approach to guess the superb thermal conductivity as compare to rest of models.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide