Nonlinear Radiation Heat Transfer Effects in the Natural Convective Boundary Layer Flow of Nanofluid Past a Vertical Plate: A Numerical Study

The problem of natural convective boundary layer flow of nanofluid past a vertical plate is discussed in the presence of nonlinear radiative heat flux. The effects of magnetic field, Joule heating and viscous dissipation are also taken into consideration. The governing partial differential equations are transformed into a system of coupled nonlinear ordinary differential equations via similarity transformations and then solved numerically using the Runge–Kutta fourth-fifth order method with shooting technique. The results reveal an existence of point of inflection for the temperature distribution for sufficiently large wall to ambient temperature ratio. Temperature and thermal boundary layer thickness increase as Brownian motion and thermophoretic effects intensify. Moreover temperature increases and heat transfer from the plate decreases with an increase in the radiation parameter.