MHD flow and heat transfer in a nanofluid over a slender elastic sheet with variable thickness

MHD flow and heat transfer characteristics in a nanofluid over a slender elastic sheet with variable thickness in the presence of variable fluid properties are analyzed. The nonlinear governing equations with suitable boundary conditions are initially cast into dimensionless form by similarity transformations and then the resulting equations are solved via the optimal homotopy analysis method (OHAM). The influences of the fluid viscosity, wall thickness, power index, Brownian motion, and thermophoresis parameters on flow, temperature, and nanoparticle volume fraction fields are analyzed graphically. The analysis reveals quite an interesting and substantial influence of transpiration (wall suction or injection) on the flow and heat transfer characteristics. The flow decelerated with suction and accelerated noticeably with increasing injection (blowing). (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license