Physica B 457 (2015) 40–47

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Physica B
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/physb

Convective heat transfer in MHD slip flow over a stretching surface

in the presence of carbon nanotubes
Rizwan Ul Haq a,b, Sohail Nadeem a, Z.H. Khan c,e, N.F.M. Noor d,n
a
Department of Mathematics, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
b
Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Spencer Engineering Building, Room 3055, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
c
School of Mathematical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, P.R. China
d
Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
e
Department of Mathematics, University of Malakand, Dir (Lower), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In the present study, thermal conductivity and viscosity of both single-wall and multiple-wall Carbon
Received 10 July 2014 Nanotubes (CNT) within the base fluids (water, engine oil and ethylene glycol) of similar volume have
Received in revised form been investigated when the fluid is flowing over a stretching surface. The magnetohydrodynamic (MHD)
4 September 2014
and viscous dissipation effects are also incorporated in the present phenomena. Experimental data
Accepted 20 September 2014
Available online 30 September 2014
consists of thermo-physical properties of each base fluid and CNT have been considered. The
mathematical model has been constructed and by employing similarity transformation, system of
Keywords: partial differential equations is rehabilitated into the system of non-linear ordinary differential
Nanofluids equations. The results of local skin friction and local Nusselt number are plotted for each base fluid by
Carbon nanotubes
considering both Single Wall Carbon Nanotube (SWCNT) and Multiple-Wall Carbon Nanotubes
MHD flow
(MWCNT). The behavior of fluid flow for water based-SWCNT and MWCNT are analyzed through
Stretching sheet
Viscous dissipation streamlines. Concluding remarks have been developed on behalf of the whole analysis and it is found
Numerical solution that engine oil-based CNT have higher skin friction and heat transfer rate as compared to water and
ethylene glycol-based CNT.
& 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction suspended in the fluids so that the thermal conductivity of the

Recent development in the field of science and technology
witnesses numerous researchers concentrating in the field of
nanotechnology due to their enhanced thermal performance,
potential benefits and applications in several important fields
such as microelectronics, microfluidics, transportation, manufac-
turing, medical, and so on. There are many countries around the
world who organized the research centers in the development of
nanofluids. According to latest survey of Choi [1], there is an
exponential increase in Science Citation Index (SCI) publication
and it is found that nanofluid is now one of the fastest growth
rates in scientific papers in nanoscale science and technology.
Nanofluid is actually a homogeneous mixture of base fluid and
nanoparticles. Normally the size of the nanoparticle is 1–100 nm
in diameter but according to shape and size, it can vary slightly. In
addition, few commonly used base fluids namely water, engine oil
or ethylene glycol have poor thermal conductivity. To enhance the
thermal conductivity of such kind of base fluids, nanoparticles are
n
Corresponding author. Tel.: þ 603 7967 4320; fax: þ 603 7967 4143.
E-mail address: drfadiya@um.edu.my (N.F.M. Noor).
mixture (nanofluid) can be enhanced ultimately. Before develop-
ment of nanofluids, it was found that heat transfer would be
excellent but at the cost of higher pumping power. So the main
vision was introduced by Choi [2] in which he introduced the
concept of unique capability to produce the nanoparticles.
Through this vision it was found that an effect of thermal
conductivity of nanofluid is much better than highly costed
pumping power on heat transfer. Nanoparticles are created from
different materials, such as oxide ceramics (Al2O3, CuO), metal
nitrides (AlN, SiN), carbide ceramics (Sic, Tic), metals (Cu, Ag, Au),
carbons in various (e.g., diamond, graphite, carbon nanotubes,
fullerene) and functionalized nanoparticles. Lixin Cheng [3] dis-
cussed the brief concept of nanofluid with heat transfer and the
effects of thermal conductivity of various materials like carbon,
metallic solids, non-metallic solids, metallic liquids and many
others.
The suspension of nanoparticles within the base fluid alone is
not enough to enhance the thermal conductivity since size and
shape of particles also matter. According to recent study, Elena
et al. [4] present an article in which they demonstrate the effects
of particle shapes for nanofluids. According to Murshed et al. [5],
carbon nanotubes (CNT) provide roundabout six times better

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physb.2014.09.031
0921-4526/& 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 R. Ul Haq et al. / Physica B 457 (2015) 40–47 41

Nomenclature α Thermal diffusivity, m2/s

β Slip parameter
B0 Magnetic field strength K Thermal conductivity, W/m
cp Specific heat, J/kg.K M Magnetic parameter
cf Friction coefficient Nux Local Nusselt number
f Dimensionless stream function Pr Prandtl number of base fluid
K Thermal conductivity, W/m qw Wall heat flux, W/m2
M Magnetic parameter ϕ Volume fraction of CNT
Nux Local Nusselt number η Similarity variable
Pr Prandtl number of base fluid μ Dynamic viscosity, N.s/m2
qw Wall heat flux, W/m2 v Kinematic viscosity, m2/s
Rex Local Reynolds number σ Electric conductivity
T Local fluid temperature, K ρ Density, kg/m3
T1 Free stream temperature, K ρc Heat capacity of Carbon nanotube, kg/m3.K
u x-component of velocity, m/s θ Dimensionless temperature
Uw Velocity at wall, m/s Ψ Stream function
v y-component of velocity, m/s
x Distance along the plate, m Subscripts
y Distance normal to the plate, m
Ec Viscous dissipation nf Nanofluid
Bi Biot number f Base fluid
CNT Carbon nanotube
Greek symbols

thermal conductivity as compared to other materials at the room numerically and physical behaviors of each of the parameters
temperature. The CNT are allotropes of carbon with a cylindrical for both SWCNT and MWCNT are shown graphically for velocity,
nanostructure. There are three main characteristics of CNT namely temperature, skin friction and local Nusselt number. Conclusions
single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT), double wall carbon nano- have been developed under the results basis and it is found that
tubes (DWCNT) and multiple-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT). engine oil-based SWCNT always provides the best heat transfer
Initially, Khanafer et al. [6] presented the heat transfer enhance- rate as compared to the rest of the mixtures.
ment in a two-dimensional flow utilizing nanofluids. The Cheng-
Minkowycz problem for convection past along with the vertical
plate through porous medium filled by a nanofluid is studied 2. Mathematical formulation
analytically by Nield and Kuznetsov [7]. They used the nanofluid
model with the effects of Brownian motion and thermophoresis Consider two dimensional (2D) steady boundary layer flow past
parameter. For the porous medium, the Darcy model is employed. a stretching sheet in the presence of carbon nanotubes. It is
The convection problem for boundary layer flow phenomena of a considered that the sheet is stretched along the x axis. Moreover,
nanofluid along with the vertical plate has been studied analyti- fluid is placed on the half plane y4 0. It is also considered that the
cally by Kuznetsov and Nield [8]. They found that the reduced sheet is stretched with the velocity U w ¼ cx, with c 4 0 (see Fig. 1).
Nusselt number is a decreasing function of thermophoresis para- The hot base fluid without incorporating the nanoparticles effects
meter and Brownian motion parameter. In 2010, Khan and Pop [9] is also fixed along with the lower surface of the wall in such a way
discussed the steady boundary layer flow, heat transfer and
nanoparticle fraction over a stretching surface for a nanofluid.
Makinde and Aziz [10] studied the influence of convective bound-
ary condition on the flow of nanofluid past a stretching surface.
After this Nadeem and Lee [11] presented the concept of nanofluid
over an exponentially stretching surface. Recently, Khan et al. [12]
presented an article related to fluid flow and heat transfer of
carbon nanotubes along a flat plate with Navier slip boundary.
Later on many authors discussed the effects of nanoparticles for
boundary layer flow over a stretching/shrinking surface [13–34].
The main motivation of the current problem is to verify the
difference in the heat transfer rate of three commonly used base
fluids (water, engine oil and ethylene glycol) in the presence of
SWCNT and MWCNT when the fluid is flowing over a stretching
sheet. Moreover, we have considered viscous dissipation and
magnetic field effects where the magnetic field is normal to the
fluid motion. We also consider the convective boundary condition
below the surface of the wall. The mathematical modeling of the
problem is incorporated in the third section and then the system
of partial differential equations is reduced into the system of
ordinary differential equations by introducing similarity transfor-
mation variables. Coupled differential equations are then tackled Fig. 1. Geometry of the problem.
42 R. Ul Haq et al. / Physica B 457 (2015) 40–47

that temperature of the hot fluid, T f is greater than the ambient Primes denote derivative with respect to η. Here, Pr ¼ ððμC p Þf =kf Þ
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
fluid temperature, T 1 . We considered a uniform magnetic field is the Prandtl number of base fluid, β ¼ γ c=υf is dimensionless slip
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Bo applied parallel to y axis to access the motion of the CNT parameter and Bi ¼ ðhf =kf Þ υf =c is the Biot number. Expressions for
uniformly while the induced magnetic field is assumed to be the local skin friction coefficient C f and the local Nusselt number
negligible. The base fluids and the CNT are assumed to be in Nu are
thermal equilibrium and viscous dissipation effect is also consid- τwx xqw
ered in the energy equation. By using the order analysis, the Cf ¼ ; Nu ¼ ; ð10Þ
ρf U 2w k f ðT w T 1 Þ
proposed boundary layer equations are defined as,
∂u ∂v where τwx is the surface shear stress along the x direction and qw is
þ ¼ 0; ð1Þ the heat flux which are given by
∂x ∂y
   
∂u ∂T
τwx ¼ μnf ; qw ¼ knf : ð11Þ
∂u ∂u ∂2 u σBo 2 ∂y y ¼ 0 ∂y y ¼ 0
u þ v ¼ υnf 2 u; ð2Þ
∂x ∂y ∂y ρnf
Reduced dimensionless expressions of Eq. (10) take the follow-
 2 ing form after fixing Re ¼ ðU w x=νf Þ,
∂T ∂T ∂2 T υnf ∂u
u þ v ¼ αnf 2 þ
 : ð3Þ 00
∂x ∂y ∂y ρC p nf ∂y 1=2 f ð0Þ
C f Rex ¼ ; ð12Þ
ð1 ϕÞ2:5
In above expressions, u and v are the velocity components K nf 0
1=2
along the x and y axes, respectively, T is the temperature of the Rex Nu ¼ θ ð0Þ: ð13Þ
Kf
base fluid, ρnf is the density of nanofluid, μnf is the viscosity of
nanofluid and αnf is the thermal diffusivity of nanofluid defined as,
μ μf 9
υnf ¼ ρnf ; μnf ¼ ; 3. Numerical method for solution
ð1 ϕÞ2:5
nf
>
>
>
>
knf
>
αnf ¼ ρ C ; ρnf ¼ ð1 ϕÞρf þ ϕρCNT ; >
>
nf ð p Þnf Eqs. (7) and (8) combined with the boundary conditions (9) are
>
>
>
>
=
solved numerically using a shooting technique with a Runge-Kutta



ðρC p Þnf ¼ ð1 ϕÞ ρC p f þ ϕ ρC p CNT ; ð4Þ
  
kCNT þ kf
 >
> (RK) method. The step size is taken as Δη ¼ 0:01 and the conver-
k
>
1 ϕ þ 2ϕ k CNT k ln gence criteria is set to 10 6. The following system is established:
>
knf 2k
>
 CNT f   f ;
>
kf
¼ k kCNT þ kf
>
>
>
1 ϕ þ 2ϕ k f k ln 0
>
> 9
CNT f 2kf
; f ¼ p; >
>
>
00 0 >
f ¼ p ¼ q; >
=
where μf is the viscosity of base fluid, ϕ is the nanoparticle ( ( ) ð14Þ
fraction, ðρC p Þnf is the effective heat capacity of a CNT, knf is the
 
000 2
f ¼ q ¼ ð1 ϕÞ2:5 2
0
1 ϕ þ ϕρCNT
>
ρf f q ð pÞ g M p ; >
>
thermal conductivity of nanofluid, kf and kCNT are the thermal
>
>
;
conductivities of the base fluid and CNT respectively while ρf
and ρCNT are the thermal conductivities of the base fluid 0
θ ¼ z;
9
>
and CNT respectively. The corresponding boundary conditions h  i
ðρC p ÞCNT
=
1 ϕþϕ ð15Þ
are stated as
n o
0 ðρC p Þf Ec
θ00 ¼ z ¼ Pr f zþ q2 ;>
ϕÞ2:5
ðK nf =kf Þ
;

 ) ð1
u ¼ U w ðxÞ þ γ ∂u
∂y; v ¼ 0; kf ∂T
∂y ¼ hf T f T at y ¼ 0;
ð5Þ with the boundary conditions
u-0; v-0; T-T 1 as y-1:
β
f ð0Þ ¼ 0; pð0Þ ¼ 1 þ ; zð0Þ ¼ Bið1 θð0ÞÞ: ð16Þ
ð1 ϕÞ2:5
In the above expressions, U w ðxÞ ¼ cx is the stretching velocity
with c is a stretching constant, γ is the slip parameter, kf is the
thermal conductivity of the hot fluid, hf is the convective heat In order to integrate Eqs. (14) and (15) with initial condition
″ 0
transfer coefficient and T f is the convective fluid temperature (16), the values of qð0Þ ¼ f ð0Þ and zð0Þ ¼ θ ð0Þ are required but no
below the stretching sheet. Introducing the following similarity such values are given in the boundary conditions. The suitable
transformations, ″ 0
guess values for f ð0Þ and θ ð0Þ are chosen and then integration is
0
0 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 9
performed. Then the calculated values for f and θ . at ηmax ¼ 12
0
u ¼ cxf ðηÞ; v ¼ cυf f ðηÞ; =
qffiffiffi ð6Þ (say) are compared with the given boundary conditions as
η ¼ υcf y; θðηÞ ¼ TTw TT11 ; 0 00
f ð12Þ ¼ 0 and θð12Þ ¼ 0 while the estimated values f ð0Þ and
0
θ ð0Þ are adjusted to give a better approximation for the solution.
00 0
Making use of Eq. (6) into Eqs. (1) to (3), we get We take the series of values for f ð0Þ and θ ð0Þ, and further apply
 0 2 the fourth order classical Runge-Kutta method with step-size
0
000 00
f þ ð1 ϕÞ2:5 ½ð1 ϕ þ ϕðρCNT =ρf ÞÞff f f g M 2 f Š ¼ 0; ð7Þ Δη ¼ 0:01. The above procedure is repeated until we get the
6
asymptotically converged results within a tolerance level of 10 .
ðK =k Þ 1 00 Ec

nf  f

0
  Prθ þ f θ þ f ″2 ¼ 0; ð8Þ
½1 ϕ þ ϕ ρC p CNT = ρC p f Š ð 1 ϕÞ2:5
4. Result and discussion
subject to the boundary conditions (5) which transformed to
Before going to discuss the behavior of fluid flow and its heat
transfer characteristics, it is worthwhile to provide the comparison
0 0
9
f ð0Þ ¼ 0; f ð0Þ ¼ 1 þ ð1 β
; θ ð0Þ ¼ Bið1 θð0ÞÞ = among the base fluids (water, engine oil and ethylene glycol) in the
ϕÞ2:5
0
ð9Þ presence of both multiple and single wall carbon nanotubes (CNT)
f ðηÞ-0; θðηÞ-0 as η-1: ;
for absolute skin friction coefficient
1=2
Rex C f x and local Nusselt
 R. Ul Haq et al. / Physica B 457 (2015) 40–47 43

1=2
number Rex Nux . In fact, each base fluid and carbon nanotubes that near the wall, M ¼ 0 provides lower friction as compared to
have their own thermo-physical properties (See Table 1) so it will be non-zero values of MHD ðM ¼ 0:5; 1:0Þ. Contribution of slip effects
more effective for heat transfer. Table 1 presents the thermo-physical on the skin friction coefficient are plotted in Fig. 3(b). As concern
properties of each base fluid and nanoparticles. Based on collective to the present study, it is found that slip effect reduces the friction
analysis, results have been drawn for local skin friction and local near the wall where evidence of this phenomenon can be
Nusselt number as depicted in Fig. 2. It is evidenced that due to more observed through Fig. 3(b). It is clearly seen through Fig. 3(b), for
viscosity and density of engine-oil-based nanoparticle, it should no slip effects ðβ ¼ 0Þ; higher friction is achieved along with the
have higher friction and heat transfer rate near the wall as compared wall as compared to (β ¼ 0:5 and 1). Finally, it is concluded that
to other mixtures. Moreover it can be observed that although the both the MHD and the slip parameter show the opposite effects in
base fluids did not provide a difference in the skin friction coefficient the fluid motion near the wall.
and Nusselt number, CNT have dominant contribution in the Another contribution of MHD on the local Nusselt number is
nanofluid flow motion and in the heat transfer phenomenon. plotted in Fig. 4(a). We can see through Fig. 4(a) where the local heat
Tables 2 and 3 present the numerical results of the local skin friction transfer rate is plotted for both cases when M ¼ 0 and M ¼ 0:5; 1.
coefficient and the local Nusselt number for various values of It is found that for M ¼ 0 , higher heat transfer rate is attained at the
emerging parameters. wall as compared to nonzero values of Hartmann number M. It is
In order to investigate the impact of emerging parameters
namely: Hartmann number M, slip parameter β, Biot number Bi
and Eckert number Ec on the absolute skin friction coefficient Table 2
1=2 1=2
Rex C f x and the local Nusselt number Rex Nux , graphical Variation of skin friction coefficient
1=2
C f Rex for various values of emerging
results are constructed (See Figs. 3–5). These results are only parameter.
plotted for water-based CNT to analyze the variation of skin
friction and heat transfer difference at the wall. Fig. 3 depicts the ϕ↓ β ¼0.5 M¼ 0.5
variation of local skin friction for various values of Hartmann
M ¼0 M ¼ 0.5 β¼ 0 β ¼0.5
number M and slip parameter β when the nanoparticle volumetric
fraction is in the range of 0 r ϕ r 0:2. Since there is a random Water
motion of the particles within the base fluid and for the sake of SWCNT's 0 0.5912 0.6495 1.1180 0.6495
uniform motion of the particles, a constant Hartmann number M is 0.1 0.6680 0.7242 1.3549 0.7242
0.2 0.7504 0.8051 1.6569 0.8051
applied normal to the fluid. Ultimately these nanoparticles move
MWCNT's 0 0.5912 0.6495 1.1180 0.6495
along with the magnetic field and slow down the motion of the 0.1 0.6508 0.7106 1.3058 0.7106
nanofluid flow. The consequences of Hartmann number M towards 0.2 0.71808 0.7795 1.5475 0.7795
the nanofluid flow can be observed through Fig. 3(a). We can see Ethylene glycol
SWCNT's 0 0.59119 0.64951 1.1180 0.64951
0.1 0.66342 0.72056 1.3416 0.72056
0.2 0.74199 0.79838 1.6275 0.79838
Table 1
MWCNT's 0 0.59119 0.64951 1.1180 0.6495
Thermophysical properties of different base fluids and CNTs [12].
0.1 0.64781 0.70823 1.2974 0.7082
0.2 0.71208 0.77484 1.5282 0.7748
Physical properties Base fluids Nanoparticles
Engine Oil
Water Ethylene glycol Engine oil SWCNT MWCNT SWCNT's 0 0.5911 0.6495 1.1180 0.6495
0.1 0.6734 0.7285 1.3708 0.7285
r (kg/m3) 997 1,115 884 2,600 1,600 0.2 0.7601 0.8129 1.6917 0.8129
cp (J/kg K) 4,179 2,430 1,910 425 796 MWCNT's 0 0.5911 0.6495 1.1180 0.6495
k (W/m K ) 0.613 0.253 0.144 6,600 3,000 0.1 0.6544 0.7134 1.3161 0.7134
Pr 6.2 203.63 6450 0.2 0.7251 0.7850 1.5705 0.7850

Fig. 2. Comparison among the different base fluids for skin friction and local Nusselt number in the presence of SWCNTs and MWCNTs.
44 R. Ul Haq et al. / Physica B 457 (2015) 40–47

Table 3
1=2
Variation of local Nusselt number Rex Nux for various values of emerging parameters.

β ¼Bi ¼ Ec ¼0.5 M ¼ Bi¼ Ec ¼ 0.5 β ¼ M¼ Bi ¼0.5 β ¼ M¼ Ec ¼0.5

ϕ↓ M¼0 M¼ 0.5 β¼0 β¼ 0.5 Ec ¼ 0 Ec ¼0.5 Bi ¼ p Bi ¼ 0.5

Water
SWCNT's 0 0.2703 0.2507 0.1318 0.2506 0.3701 0.2506 0.1318 0.2506
0.1 0.6779 0.6350 0.3913 0.6351 0.8515 0.6350 0.3913 0.6351
0.2 1.0426 0.9738 0.6067 0.9738 1.253 0.9738 0.6067 0.9738
MWCNT's 0 0.2703 0.2507 0.1318 0.2507 0.3701 0.2506 0.1318 0.2506
0.1 0.6562 0.6138 0.3945 0.6138 0.8186 0.6138 0.3945 0.6138
0.2 1.0232 0.9542 0.6474 0.9542 1.2151 0.9542 0.6473 0.9542

Ethylene glycol
SWCNT's 0 0.1892 0.1354 0.2172 0.1354 0.4740 0.13546 2.6148 0.1354
0.1 0.7056 0.5927 0.4449 0.5927 1.4070 0.59273 6.3154 0.5927
0.2 1.3868 1.2282 0.7583 1.2283 2.4908 1.2282 9.3270 1.2282
MWCNT's 0 0.1892 0.1354 0.2172 0.1354 0.4741 0.1354 2.6148 0.1354
0.1 0.6873 0.5743 0.3522 0.5742 1.3324 0.5743 6.3422 0.5742
0.2 1.3562 1.1917 0.4721 1.1917 2.3364 1.1917 9.5114 1.1917

Engine Oil
SWCNT's 0 0.002 0.1070 0.7248 0.1070 0.4952 0.1070 11.335 0.1070
0.1 0.1264 0.1273 2.3318 0.1273 1.5868 0.1273 7.1937 0.1273
0.2 0.3838 0.0039 4.7355 0.0039 2.9334 0.0039 0.1579 0.0039
MWCNT's 0 0.002 0.1070 0.7248 0.1070 0.4952 0.1070 11.335 0.1070
0.1 0.1855 0.0671 1.9862 0.0671 1.5017 0.0671 3.9427 0.0671
0.2 0.5516 0.1616 3.6550 0.1616 2.7449 0.1616 6.7515 0.1616

0.96
β =0.5 M = 0.5
1.6

0.88
1.4
M=1
β=0
0.8
SWCNT
-Rex Cf

-Rex Cf

1.2
1/2

1/2

MWCNT
0.72 M = 0.5
1
β = 0.2

0.64 0.8
SWCNT β = 0.4
M=0
MWCNT
0.56 0.6
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2
φ (%) φ (%)
Fig. 3. Variation of skin friction coefficient for various values of M and β for water-based CNTs.

found that simultaneous increase in the nanoparticle volume fraction
and Hartmann number provide enhancement in the heat transfer
rate while opposite impact on the local Nusselt number has been
found for increasing values of Eckert number Ec (see Fig. 4(b)). Effect
of slip parameter on local Nusselt number has been plotted in Fig. 5
(a). It is found that an increase in the slip parameter leads to
decreasing effect in the heat transfer rate. It is also noticeable that
when the effect of the slip parameter is negligible ðβ ¼ 0Þ, the heat
transfer rate becomes higher while non-zero values of the slip
parameter ðβ ¼ 0:5; 1Þ provide decreasing effects on the heat transfer
rate. Convective heat transfer coefficient Bi shows a dominant con-
tribution on the local Nusselt number. It is found that in the case of
infinitely large value of Biot number, the present model reduces to
uniform temperature at the wall. It is also concluded that in the case
of uniform temperature ðBi ¼ 1Þ, higher heat transfer rate is initiated
as compared to the case of non-zero values of convective heat
transfer parameter Bi (see Fig. 5(b)).
Although behavior of the fluid motion remains the same, a
slight difference should appear between the base fluid (water) and
the water based CNT (SWCNT, MWCNT) due to difference in
densities (See Fig. 6). It can be observed through Fig. 6(a) that
the stream lines of the base fluid (water) remain much closer to
each other however in the case of water based CNT, behavior of the
stream lines remains isolated to each other.
0
Variation of profiles of the velocity f ðηÞ and temperature θðηÞ
against the emerging parameters is plotted in Figs. 7 and 8
respectively only for water based SWCNT. In each case in Fig. 7,
we can observe that the velocity profile increases with an increase
in the nanoparticle volume fraction while in the absence of both slip
and Hartmann number, the velocity profile remains higher as
compared to their non-zero values. Simultaneous effects of nano-
particle volume fractionϕalong with the Hartmann number M,
Eckert number Ec and Biot number Bi against the temperature pro-
file θðηÞ are plotted in Fig. 8. For each parameter, an increase in the
 R. Ul Haq et al. / Physica B 457 (2015) 40–47 45

SWCNT SWCNT
2.5 2.5
MWCNT MWCNT

2 2
Nu x

Nu x
-1/2

-1/2
1.5 1.5
Rex

M=0,0.5,1

Rex
Ec=0,0.2,0.4

1
1

Bi= β =0.5,Ec=0.1 0.5 Bi= β =0.5,Ec=0.1

0.5
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2
φ (%) φ (%)
Fig. 4. Variation of local Nusselt Number for various values of M and Ec for water-based CNTs.

Bi=M=0.5,Ec=0.1 5.5 SWCNT

5 MWCNT
1.6
4.5 Bi= ∞
4
3.5
Nux

Nux

1.2
3
-1/2

-1/2

β =0,0.5,1 2.5 Bi=1

Re x

Re x

2
0.8
SWCNT 1.5
MWCNT 1
Bi=0.5
0.4 0.5
0 β =M=0.5,Ec=0.1
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2
φ (%) φ (%)
Fig. 5. Variation of local Nusselt Number for various values of M and Ec for water-based CNTs.

Water SWCNTs-Water MWCNTs-Water

8 8 8

7 7 7

6 6 6
1. 0 3
-1 .0 3

5 5 5
0 .9 6
0 .9 2

- 0 .9 5
2
η
η

0 .8 2

4 4
η

4
- 0 .9

0 .7 7

0
-4. 07

7
4 .3 7

- 0 .8

0.67
-0 .7

67

3 3
0 .6

3
-3 .4 8

64

0 .5
-0 .
3 .7 5

53
2
0 .5
-0 .

φ =0.2
-2 .8 1

φ =0.2
50

2
-0 .
3.12
-2 .1 9

0
-0 .

37
2 .5

0.3

2
0 .3

2 2
36

-0.
1 .8
8

-0 .

0 .2
4

6
-1 .5

2
0.
1.2

φ =0
7
2

.2

4
22
.2
-0 .9

-0
0 .0
5

-0
0 .6

1 1 1
0 .0
8

8
- 0 .3

.0
8

.0
2

8
-0

-0
0 0 0
-4 -2 0 2 4 6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 -4 -2 0 2 4
x x x
Fig. 6. Comparison among the stream lines for base fluid and water based CNTs.
46 R. Ul Haq et al. / Physica B 457 (2015) 40–47

nanoparticle volume fraction provides enhancement to the tem-
perature profile. Moreover, it is found that for non-zero values of
both Hartmann number and Eckert number, the temperature profile
remains higher as compared to absence of both magnetic and
viscous dissipation effects (see Fig. 8(a)and (b)). It is also noticeable
that for infinitely large value of Biot number, the present model
reduces to uniform wall temperature while for small values of Biot
number, the results obtained signify weak convection near the wall
(see Fig. 8(c)). Finally, the numerical values against each physical
parameter are calculated for local skin friction coefficient and local
Nusselt number (see Tables 2 and 3).
5. Conclusion
MHD boundary layer flow of a nanofluid over a linearly stretching
sheet for Xue model subject to the convective boundary condition is
solved numerically. Moreover, effects for various values of existing
parameters are discussed for velocity, temperature, local skin friction
and local Nusselt number. The main results of present analysis are
listed below:
 Both Hartmann number and slip parameter have opposite
effects on the local skin friction coefficient.
 Influence of Hartmann number and Eckert number caused
similar decreasing effects on the local Nusselt number.
 An increase in the slip parameter enhances the heat transfer rate
while dominant effect on heat transfer is for the case of constant
wall temperature ðBi ¼ 1Þ as compared to ðBi ¼ 0:5; 1Þ.
 The trend of velocity is fluctuating for the slip parameter while
increasing value of each parameter involved in the momentum
equation decreases the velocity profile.
 The temperature profile is enhanced with increasing values of
each physical parameter.
 Engine oil-based CNT have higher skin friction and heat
transfer rate as compared to water-based and ethylene glycol-
based CNT.
 Base fluid SWCNT provides better heat transfer as compared to
MWCNTs.

1 SWCNTs-Water SWCNTs-Water SWCNTs-Water

β =0 0.6 M=0 1.5 M= β =Ec=0,Bi= ∞
0.8 β =1 M=2 M= β =Ec=Bi=0.5
M=0.3 β =0.5
0.6 0.4 1
f (η)

f (η)

f (η)
- - -
0.4
φ =0.2,0.1,0 0.2 φ =0.2,0.1,0 0.5 φ =0.2,0.1,0
0.2

0 0 0
0 4 8 12 0 4 8 0 2 4 6 8 1
η η η
Fig. 7. Variation of velocity profile for various values of nanoparticle volume fraction.

0.4
SWCNTs-Water SWCNTs-Water SWCNTs-Water
0.8
Bi= β =0.5,Ec=0.1 Bi= β =0.5,M=1 M= β =0.5,Ec=0.1
0.3 M=0 Ec=0 Bi=1
0.3
Ec=0.2 0.6 Bi=10
M=1

0.2
0.2
θ(η)

θ(η)

θ(η)

0.4

0.1 φ =0,0.1,0.2 φ =0,0.1,0.2 φ =0,0.1,0.2

0.1 0.2

0 0
0

0 4 8 12 0 4 8 12 0 2 4 6 8
η η η
Fig. 8. Variation of temperature profile for various values of nanoparticle volume fraction.
 R. Ul Haq et al. / Physica B 457 (2015) 40–47
Acknowledgements
Research support received by last author Dr. N.F.M Noor under
the University of Malaya research grant BK015-2012 is highly
appreciated.
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