Self-Similar Solution of Three-Dimensional Stagnation-Point Flow of (Al2O3-Water) NanoFluid on a Stationary Flat Plate

This study investigates the general form of a problem of stagnation-point flow of a viscous, nanofluid that impinges along z-direction on a stationary flat plate. In this study, a three-dimensional flow is produced by an external flow including nanoparticles that impinge on the plate, along the z-direction, with strain rate a. The density and viscosity of the nanofluid are affected by the nanoparticles. Appropriate formulas are employed to calculate the density and viscosity of the nanofluid. Suitable similarity transformations are introduced for the reduction of the steady, three-dimensional, Navier-Stokes equations to couple non-linear ordinary differential equations. These governing equations are numerically solved using the order Runge-Kutta method along with a shooting technique for a wide range of characterizing parameters. The obtained results illustrate that if the value of particle fraction increases, the value of the velocity components and pressure gradients decreases in the vicinity of the plate. It was also shown that as the flow patterns are moving from a two-dimensional case to an axisymmetric case, the velocity components as well as dimensionless pressure gradients increase in the vicinity of the plate. The problem is particularly important in the cooling process of electronic devices turbine blades and high-pressure washers.