Self-similar analysis of fluid flow, heat, and mass transfer at orthogonal nanofluid impingement onto a flat surface

Momentum, heat, and mass transfer in the vicinity of a stagnation point at uniform impingement of a nanofluid onto a flat plate were investigated. The novelty of the work consists in obtaining self-similar forms for the Hiemenz flow of a nanofluid and the self-similar representation of the velocity, thermal, and diffusion boundary layer equations derived on the basis of symmetry analysis using discrete symmetries. Momentum, energy, and concentration equations in the self-similar form were solved numerically. In frames of this analysis, functional dependence of the physical properties of nanofluids (viscosity, thermal conductivity, and diffusion coefficient) on concentration and temperature profiles was included as a part of the mathematical model, whose form enables including different models for the thermophysical properties of the nanofluid. Also novel are numerical results that revealed the influence of the nanoparticle concentration on the velocity, temperature, and concentration profiles, as well as on the normalized Nusselt numbers and surface friction coefficients illustrated in the form of analytical relations and graphically. The focus was put not only on modeling of heating of a colder wall by a hotter nanofluid but also on cooling of a hotter wall by a colder nanofluid. For the latter case, theoretical results were validated against experimental data available in the literature. Effects of various dimensionless parameters on the Nusselt number and surface friction coefficient were elucidated. Published by AIP Publishing.