Mixed convection flow of viscoelastic nanofluid by a cylinder with variable thermal conductivity and heat source/sink

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of variable thermal conductivity in mixed convection flow of viscoelastic nanofluid due to a stretching cylinder with heat source/sink. Design/methodology/approach - The authors have computed the existence of the solution for Walter's B and second grade fluids corresponding to Pr=0.5 and Pr=1.5. Skin-friction coefficient, local Nusselt and Sherwood numbers are computed numerically for different values of emerging parameters. Findings - A comparative study with the existing solutions in a limiting sense is made and analyzed. The authors found that the dimensionless velocity filed and momentum boundary layer thickness are increased when the values of viscoelastic parameter increase. The present non-Newtonian fluid flow reduces to the viscous flow in the absence of viscoelastic parameter. The larger values of viscoelastic parameter corresponds to the higher values of local Nusselt and Sherwood numbers. Originality/value - No such analysis exists in the literature yet.