Self-similar analysis of fluid flow and heat-mass transfer of nanofluids in boundary layer

Processes of heat, momentum, and concentration transport in a boundary layer of a nanofluid near a flat wall were studied. The study was performed by means of numerical analysis of boundary layer equations in a self-similar form. Self-similar forms of these equations were obtained based on symmetry properties (Lie groups). In doing so, dependence of physical properties (viscosity, thermal conductivity, and diffusion coefficient) on concentration of nanofluids and temperature were taken into account. Effects of concentration of the nano-particles on velocity and temperature profiles, as well as on the relative Nusselt numbers and skin-friction coefficients, were elucidated. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3623432]