Appl. Math. Mech. -Engl. Ed.

, 41(3), 507–520 (2020)

Applied Mathematics and Mechanics (English Edition)

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10483-020-2584-7

MHD flow and heat transfer of a hybrid nanofluid past a permeable

stretching/shrinking wedge∗

I. WAINI1,2 , A. ISHAK2,† , I. POP3

1. Fakulti Teknologi Kejuruteraan Mekanikal dan Pembuatan, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka,
Hang Tuah Jaya, Durian Tunggal 76100, Melaka, Malaysia;
2. Department of Mathematical Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia, UKM Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia;
3. Department of Mathematics, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca 400084, Romania
(Received Oct. 14, 2019 / Revised Dec. 10, 2019)

Abstract The steady flow and heat transfer of a hybrid nanofluid past a permeable
stretching/shrinking wedge with magnetic field and radiation effects are studied. The
governing equations of the hybrid nanofluid are converted to the similarity equations
by techniques of the similarity transformation. The bvp4c function that is available
in MATLAB software is utilized for solving the similarity equations numerically. The
numerical results are obtained for selected different values of parameters. The results
discover that two solutions exist, up to a certain value of the stretching/shrinking and
suction strengths. The critical value in which the solution is in existence decreases as
nanoparticle volume fractions for copper and wedge angle parameter increase. It is also
found that the hybrid nanofluid enhances the heat transfer rate compared with the regular
nanofluid. The reduction of the heat transfer rate is observed with the increase in radiation
parameter. The temporal stability analysis is performed to analyze the stability of the
dual solutions, and it is revealed that only one of them is stable and physically reliable.
Key words dual solution, hybrid nanofluid, stretching/shrinking wedge, magnetic field,
radiation, stability analysis
Chinese Library Classification O241
2010 Mathematics Subject Classification 76D10, 34B15

1 Introduction
Hybrid nanofluid is defined as an advanced nanofluid that contains of two distinct nanopar-
ticles dissolved in the base fluid. Meanwhile, the regular nanofluid contains of one type of
nanoparticle which was initially introduced by Choi and Eastman[1]. The investigations of heat
transfer in a hybrid nanofluid have attracted many researchers in the past few years due to its

∗ Citation: WAINI, I., ISHAK, A., and POP, I. MHD flow and heat transfer of a hybrid nanofluid past
a permeable stretching/shrinking wedge. Applied Mathematics and Mechanics (English Edition),
41(3), 507–520 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1007/s10483-020-2584-7
† Corresponding author, E-mail: anuar mi@ukm.edu.my
Project supported by the Ministry of Education of Malaysia (No. FRGS/1/2019/STG06/UKM/01/4)
and Ministry of Science of Romania (No. PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2016-0036)
c Shanghai University and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
508 I. WAINI, A. ISHAK, and I. POP

capability to improve the heat transfer rate compared with regular nanofluid. Because of that,
most of the applications involving heat transfer such as coolant in machining, electronic, and
transformer cooling have considered hybrid nanofluid as the heat transfer fluid. Particularly,
nanofluid is well known as high heat transfer fluid compared with the regular traditional fluid.
However, the hybrid nanofluid is investigated in this paper to further enhance the heat transfer
rate of the regular nanofluid.
The problems of the boundary layer flow and heat transfer of a hybrid nanofluid were inves-
tigated numerically by several authors. For example, Devi and Devi[2] examined the flow of a
hybrid nanofluid past a stretching surface by considering Cu-Al2 O3 nanoparticles with magnetic
effects. Then, Devi and Devi[3] extended the problem to the three-dimensional flow subject to
the Newtonian heating condition. In both studies, they observed that hybrid nanofluid enhanced
the heat transfer rate than that of the regular nanofluid. The problem of hybrid nanofluid com-
posed of Ag-CuO/water for the rotating flow has been reported by Hayat and Nadeem[4] . The
similar problem has been considered by Hayat et al.[5] with partial slip boundary and radia-
tion effects. The flow of the stagnation-point toward a wavy cylinder in titania-copper hybrid
nanofluid was examined by Yousefi et al.[6] . The problem on micropolar flow past an expo-
nentially stretching surface in a hybrid nanofluid was conducted by Subhani and Nadeem[7] ,
considering three-dimensional flow. Waini et al.[8] studied the dual solutions on flow of a hybrid
nanofluid past a stretching or shrinking surface with heat transfer by considering the unsteady
flow. The stability of the solutions was analyzed by conducting the temporal stability analysis,
and they found that only one of them is stable meanwhile the other is not stable in a long run.
Lately, the hybrid nanofluid flow and heat transfer problem has been studied by the researchers,
considering different aspects available in the literature[9–12] . For further reading, problems of
nanofluid or hybrid nanofluid are intensively deliberated in the book by Das et al.[13] and also
can be found in Refs. [14]–[19]. It is worth mentioning that, some interesting studies in this
direction have been done by Hsiao[20–23] , Xu[24] , and Xu and Sun[25] .
The flow past a wedge-shaped surface with heat transfer has gained extensive attention in
the past few decades. This is attributed to its numerous applications in chemical industry
and engineering such as in the aerodynamics field and geothermal industries. Historically, this
type of flow was first proposed by Falkner and Skan[26] to show the application of Prandtl’s
theory of boundary layers. The ordinary (similarity) differential equations were obtained by
means of the similarity transformation techniques. Nowadays, these equations are currently
known as the Falkner-Skan equation. Later, Hartree[27] introduced the Hartree pressure gradient
parameter into the Falkner-Skan equation and then solved the equation numerically. Riley and
Weidman[28] has demonstrated the Falkner-Skan flow over a stretching surface and multiple
solutions were obtained. After that, the works on the Falkner-Skan flow were conducted by many
researchers, by considering the effects of various physical parameters as reported in Refs. [29]–
[35].
Furthermore, the problem on the unsteady stretching/shrinking wedge was explored by
Alam et al.[36] by considering the variable fluid properties and thermophoresis effects with
variable Schmidt and Prandtl numbers. Later, Khan et al.[37] studied the nanofluid flow past a
nonlinearly stretching or shrinking wedge with the Brownian motion, magnetic field, nonlinear
radiation, and thermophoresis effects. Awaludin et al.[38] examined the problem on the viscous
flow over a stretching/shrinking wedge with magnetic field effects. The dual solutions were
obtained for the shrinking wedge whereas for the case of stretching wedge, the solution is
unique.
Motivated by the above-mentioned studies, in the present paper, we investigate the flow and
heat transfer of a hybrid nanofluid past a permeable stretching/shrinking wedge with magnetic
field and radiation effects by employing the Tiwari and Das[39] nanofluid model. This model
analyzes the hybrid nanofluids behaviour considering the nanoparticle solid volume fractions.
Here, copper (Cu) and alumina (Al2 O3 ) nanoparticles are suspended in the water to form hybrid
 MHD flow and heat transfer of a hybrid nanofluid past a permeable stretching/shrinking wedge 509

nanofluid. Comparisons are made with the existing results in the literature in order to validate
the present numerical results.

2 Mathematical formulation

Consider a steady hybrid nanofluid flow and heat transfer past a permeable stretching/
shrinking wedge as displayed in Fig. 1, where x and y are Cartesian coordinates with the x-axis
measured along the surface of the wedge and the y-axis normal to it. The free stream velocity
is ue (x) = Ue xm , while the wedge is stretched/shrunk with a velocity uw (x) = Uw xm , where Ue
is a positive constant, while Uw is a positive constant corresponding to the stretching wedge,
Uw is a negative constant corresponding to the shrinking wedge and Uw = 0 for a static wedge.
Here, m = β/(2 − β) where m and β represent angle of the wedge and the Hartree pressure
gradient parameters, respectively, while Ω = βπ is the total angle of the wedge. Further, we
note that the value of m is between 0 and 1, with m = 0 (β = 0) representing the flow past
a horizontal flat surface (Ω = 0), and m = 1 (β = 1) represents the stagnation point flow
toward a vertical flat surface (Ω = π). In this study, we consider the wedge flow problem,
so that the value of m must be in the range of 0 < m < 1. In addition, the value of m is
taken from 0.1 6 m 6 0.3 to represent the acute wedge angle, where the wedge angle Ω is
between 0 and π/2. The hybrid nanofluid has constant ambient temperature T∞ , where the
constant temperature of the stretching/shrinking wedge is Tw . A magnetic field B(x) is applied
in the y-direction with B(x) = B0 x(m−1)/2 , where B0 is the applied magnetic field strength.
The magnetic Reynolds number is assumed to be small so that the induced magnetic field is
neglected.

# #
Z Z
VF Y VX Y VX
VF

0 Ω

βπ Ω

βπ
0
WX

4 WX


4


WX

4 WX

4



B C

Fig. 1 Physical model and coordinate system for (a) stretching wedge and (b) shrinking wedge

After applying the boundary layer approximations as well as Bernoulli’s equation in the free
stream, the governing equations of the hybrid nanofluid can be written as follows (see Refs. [2],
[38]–[39]):

∂u ∂v
+ = 0, (1)
∂x ∂y
∂u ∂u due µhnf ∂ 2 u σhnf 2
u +v = ue + − B (u − ue ), (2)
∂x ∂y dx ρhnf ∂y 2 ρhnf
∂T ∂T khnf ∂2T 1 ∂qr
u +v = 2
− (3)
∂x ∂y (ρcp )hnf ∂y (ρcp )hnf ∂y

subject to the boundary conditions,

(
v = vw (x), u = uw (x), T = Tw ,
(4)
u → ue (x), T → T∞ as y → ∞,
510 I. WAINI, A. ISHAK, and I. POP

where u and v represent the velocity components of the hybrid nanofluid along the x- and y-
axes, respectively, T denotes the hybrid nanofluid temperature, qr indicates the radiative heat
flux, and vw (x) represents the velocity of the wall mass transfer. According to the Rosseland
approximation[40], the radiative heat flux is simply expressed as follows (see Refs. [41]–[42]):

4σ0 ∂T 4
qr = − , (5)
3k ∗ ∂y

where k ∗ and σ0 denote the coefficient of mean absorption and the Stefan-Boltzmann constant,
respectively. By using the Taylor series and ignoring higher-order terms, T 4 is expanded about
T∞ to obtain T 4 ≈ 4T∞ 3 4
T − 3T∞ . Then, Eq. (3) can be written as
3  ∂2T
∂T ∂T  k
hnf 16σ0 T∞
u +v = + ∗ . (6)
∂x ∂y (ρcp )hnf 3k (ρcp )hnf ∂y 2

Further, µhnf , σhnf , ρhnf , khnf , and (ρcp )hnf are the dynamic viscosity, electrical conductivity,
density, thermal conductivity, and heat capacity of the hybrid nanofluid, respectively. Following
Devi and Devi[2] , Khanafer et al.[43] , and Oztop and Abu-Nada[44] , the equations as provided
in Table 1 are employed to evaluate the thermophysical properties for nanofluid and hybrid
nanofluid.
In Table 1, ϕ1 and ϕ2 are the volume fractions of Al2 O3 and Cu nanoparticles, respectively,
where ϕ1 = ϕ2 = 0 represent the regular fluid, µ represents the dynamic viscosity, ρ is the
density, cp is the specific heat at constant pressure, (ρcp ) is the heat capacity, k is the thermal
conductivity, and σ is the electrical conductivity, in which the subscripts hnf, nf, f, s1, and s2
represent hybrid nanofluid, nanofluid, fluid, solid component for Al2 O3 , and Cu nanoparticles,
respectively. Table 2 provides the physical properties of water, Al2 O3 , and Cu nanoparticles as
in Oztop and Abu-Nada[44] , and Raza et al.[45] .

Table 1 Thermophysical properties of nanofluid and hybrid nanofluid

Property Nanofluid Hybrid nanofluid
Density ρnf = (1 − ϕ1 )ρf + ϕ1 ρs1 ρhnf = (1 − ϕ2 )((1 − ϕ1 )ρf + ϕ1 ρs1 ) + ϕ2 ρs2
Heat capacity (ρcp )nf = (1 − ϕ1 )(ρcp )f + ϕ1 (ρcp )s1 (ρcp )hnf = (1 − ϕ2 )((1 − ϕ1 )(ρcp )f
+ ϕ1 (ρcp )s1 ) + ϕ2 (ρcp )s2
µf µf
Dynamic viscosity µnf = µhnf =
(1 − ϕ1 )2.5 (1 − ϕ1 )2.5 (1 − ϕ2 )2.5
knf ks1 + 2kf − 2ϕ1 (kf − ks1 ) khnf ks2 + 2knf − 2ϕ2 (knf − ks2 )
Thermal conductivity = knf
= ,
kf ks1 + 2kf + ϕ1 (kf − ks1 ) ks2 + 2knf + ϕ2 (knf − ks2 )
where
knf ks1 + 2kf − 2ϕ1 (kf − ks1 )
=
kf ks1 + 2kf + ϕ1 (kf − ks1 )
σnf 3( σσs1 − 1)ϕ1 σhnf σs2 + 2σnf − 2ϕ2 (σnf − σs2 )
f
Electrical conductivity =1+ = ,
σf 2 + σσs1 − ( σσs1 − 1)ϕ1 σnf σs2 + 2σnf + ϕ2 (σnf − σs2 )
f f
where
σnf σs1 + 2σf − 2ϕ1 (σf − σs1 )
=
σf σs1 + 2σf + ϕ1 (σf − σs1 )

Following Ref. [46], we apply the following similarity variables:

T − T∞  U 1/2
e
ψ = (Ue vf )1/2 x(m+1)/2 f (η), θ(η) = , η= x(m−1)/2 y, (7)
Tw − T∞ vf
 MHD flow and heat transfer of a hybrid nanofluid past a permeable stretching/shrinking wedge 511

Table 2 Thermophysical properties of fluid and nanoparticles

Physical property Fluid phase (water) Al2 O3 Cu
ρ/(kg·m−3 ) 997.1 3 970 8 933
cp /(J·kg−1 ·K−1 ) 4 179 765 385
k/(W·m−1 ·K−1 ) 0.613 40 400
σ/(S·m−1 ) 0.05 3.69×107 5.96×107

where ψ is the stream function defined by u = ∂ψ ∂ψ

∂y and v = − ∂x which satisfies Eq. (1), and vf
is the base fluid kinematic viscosity. Thus, the velocities are expressed as
m+1  m−1 ′ 
u = Ue xm f ′ (η), v = − (Ue vf )1/2 x(m−1)/2 f (η) + ηf (η) . (8)
2 m+1
To obtain similarity, we take
m+1
vw (x) = − (Ue vf )1/2 x(m−1)/2 S, (9)
2
where S = f (0) is the parameter of constant mass flux with S > 0 represents fluid suction,
while S < 0 representing fluid injection or removal.
By substituting the similarity variables (7) into Eqs. (2) and (6), we get the similarity equa-
tions as follows:
µhnf /µf ′′′ m + 1 ′′ σhnf /σf
f + f f + m(1 − f ′2 ) − M (f ′ − 1) = 0, (10)
ρhnf /ρf 2 ρhnf /ρf
1  khnf /kf 4 R  m+1 ′
+ θ′′ + f θ = 0, (11)
P r (ρcp )hnf /(ρcp )f 3 (ρcp )hnf /(ρcp )f 2

and the boundary conditions (4) become

(
f (0) = S, f ′ (0) = λ, θ(0) = 1,
(12)
f ′ (η) → 1, θ(η) → 0 as η → ∞,

where the Prandtl number P r, the magnetic parameter M , the radiation parameter R, and the
stretching/shrinking parameter λ are defined as

vf σf B02 4σ0 T∞ 3
Uw
Pr = , M= , R= ∗
, λ= (13)
αf ρf U e kf k Ue
with λ > 0 for stretching, λ < 0 for shrinking, and λ = 0 for a static wedge. It is worth
mentioning that by considering regular fluid (ϕ1 = ϕ2 = 0) with no magnetic field effects for
m = 0, Eq. (10) reduces to that of the classical Blasius problem as discussed by Blasius[47] for
the case when S = 0 and λ = 0. Moreover, Eqs. (10) and (11) reduce to Eqs. (10) and (11) of
the paper by Sparrow et al.[48] when ϕ1 = ϕ2 = λ = R = 0 and m = 1.
The physical quantities of interest are the skin friction coefficient Cf and the local Nusselt
number N ux , defined as
τw xqw
Cf = , N ux = , (14)
ρf u2e kf (Tw − T∞ )
where τw denotes the surface shear stress over the wedge, and qw denotes the heat flux from
the wedge surface, which are respectively given by
 ∂u   ∂T 
τw = µhnf , qw = −khnf + (qr )y=0 . (15)
∂y y=0 ∂y y=0
512 I. WAINI, A. ISHAK, and I. POP

Using Eqs. (7), (14), and (15), we get

µhnf ′′ k
hnf 4 
Rex1/2 Cf = f (0), Rex−1/2 N ux = − + R θ′ (0), (16)
µf kf 3
where Rex = Ue (x)x/vf is the local Reynolds number.

3 Stability analysis

The temporal stability analysis is conducted to test the stability of the solutions obtained
from the boundary value problems (10)–(12). Hence, the unsteady form of Eqs. (2) and (3) are
considered, where Eq. (1) remains unchanged in order to test these features. In this respect,
we follow Awaludin et al.[38] , Merkin[49] , and Weidman et al.[50] . As in these papers, we apply
the new dimensionless time variable τ = Ue xm−1 t to study the temporal stability of the flow.
Therefore, we have

m ∂f m+1 m − 1 ∂f
  
 u = Ue x

 (η, τ ), v = − (Ue vf )1/2 x(m−1)/2 f (η, τ ) + η (η, τ ) ,
∂η 2 m + 1 ∂η
(17)
T − T ∞
 θ(η, τ ) = , η = (Ue /vf )1/2 x(m−1)/2 y, τ = Ue xm−1 t.


Tw − T∞
Thus, Eqs. (10) and (11) can be written as

µhnf /µf ∂ 3 f m + 1 ∂2f   ∂f 2  σ /σ

hnf f
 ∂f  ∂2f
3
+ f 2 +m 1− − M −1 − = 0, (18)
ρhnf /ρf ∂η 2 ∂η ∂η ρhnf /ρf ∂η ∂η∂τ
1  khnf /kf 4 R  ∂2θ m + 1 ∂θ ∂θ
+ + f − =0 (19)
P r (ρcp )hnf /(ρcp )f 3 (ρcp )hnf /(ρcp )f ∂η 2 2 ∂η ∂τ
with the boundary conditions
∂f

 f (0, τ ) = S, (0, τ ) = λ, θ(0, τ ) = 1,


∂η
(20)
∂f
(η, τ ) → 1, θ(η, τ ) → 0 as η → ∞.



∂η

Following Weidman et al.[50] , to determine the steady flow stability for the solution f (η) = f0 (η)
and θ(η) = θ0 (η) of Eqs. (10)–(12), we write

f (η, τ ) = f0 (η) + e−γτ F (η), θ(η, τ ) = θ0 (η) + e−γτ G(η), (21)

where the unknown eigenvalue is denoted by γ, while F (η) and G(η) are relatively small com-
pared with f0 (η) and θ0 (η). Then, Eq. (21) is substituted into Eqs. (18) and (19) to obtain the
linear eigenvalue problem as follows:
µhnf /µf ′′′ m + 1 σhnf /σf
F + (f0 F ′′ + f0′′ F ) − 2mf0′ F ′ − M F ′ + γF ′ = 0, (22)
ρhnf /ρf 2 ρhnf /ρf
1  khnf /kf 4 R  m+1
+ G′′ + (f0 G′ + θ0′ F ) + γG = 0 (23)
P r (ρcp )hnf /(ρcp )f 3 (ρcp )hnf /(ρcp )f 2
with the boundary conditions
(
F (0) = 0, F ′ (0) = 0, G(0) = 0,
(24)
F ′ (η) → 0, G(η) → 0 as η → ∞.
 MHD flow and heat transfer of a hybrid nanofluid past a permeable stretching/shrinking wedge 513

The stability of the steady flow solution for f0 (η) and θ0 (η) is analyzed by the smallest values
of γ. The possible range of γ is analyzed by fixing the value of F ′′ (0) or G′ (0) as proposed
by Harris et al.[51] . In the present study, without loss of generality, we fix the value of F ′′ (0)
as F ′′ (0) = 1, and find the value of γ from the system of Eqs. (22) and (23) along with the
boundary condition (24). The procedure is continued until the smallest eigenvalue γ (positive
or negative) is obtained. The range of γ relies on the parameters applied. From Eq. (21), as
time evolves, the flow is in a stable mode for positive values of γ. Meanwhile, the flow is said
to be in an unstable mode for negative values of γ. The values of γ tend to zero for both sides
when it approaches the critical value or bifurcation point.

4 Results and discussion

The solver which is available in MATLAB software called ‘bvp4c’ is employed to solve the
boundary value problems (10)–(12) numerically. The appropriate thickness of the boundary
layer, η∞ and initial guess must be selected relying on the values of the selected parameters, to
obtain the accurate solutions. The particulars of this scheme is clearly discussed by Shampine
et al.[52] . Also, this outstanding solver has been broadly utilized by other researchers such as
Awaludin et al.[38] , Soid et al.[53] , Jusoh et al.[54] , Kamal et al.[55] , Khashi′ ie et al.[56–57] , and
Waini et al.[58] . Following Devi and Devi[2] , 0.1 solid volume fraction of Al2 O3 (i.e., ϕ1 = 0.1) is
added to the base fluid. Consequently, several solid volume fractions of Cu (ϕ2 ) are added into
the mixture in order to form Cu-Al2 O3 /water hybrid nanofluid. As in Khanafer et al.[43] and
Oztop and Abu-Nada[44] , we consider the Prandtl number P r = 6.2, which represents water as
the base fluid. This value of the Prandtl number is for water at atmospheric pressure and at
the room temperature 25 ◦ C.
Table 3 compares the values of f ′′ (0) and −θ′ (0) in a regular fluid (ϕ1 = ϕ2 = 0) when
λ = M = R = 0 and P r = m = 1 for various values of constant mass flux parameter S with
published results of Yih[29] , Ishak et al.[31] and Sparrow et al.[48] , and they are found in excellent
1/2 −1/2
agreement. Additionally, Table 4 is provided to describe the values of Rex Cf and Rex N ux
for Cu/water nanofluid (ϕ1 = 0) when M = R = S = 0, m = 1, and P r = 6.2 with various
values of λ and ϕ2 . Here, we compare our numerical results with those of Yacob et al.[33] and
Bachok et al.[59] , which shows a good agreement. Moreover, Table 5 shows the effect of several
1/2 −1/2
physical parameters on Rex Cf and Rex N ux for Cu/water nanofluid (ϕ1 = 0) and Cu-
Al2 O3 /water hybrid nanofluid (ϕ1 = 0.1) when P r = 6.2. It is found that, the increases of ϕ2
1/2 −1/2
tends to enhance the values of Rex Cf and Rex N ux for both nanofluid and hybrid nanofluid.
1/2
Similar trend is observed for m, S, and M . Besides, the values of Rex Cf decrease, whereas
−1/2 −1/2
the values of Rex N ux increase with the increase in λ. Meanwhile, the values of Rex N ux
1/2
increase as R increases; however, there is no change in the values of Rex Cf . Obviously, the
heat transfer rate of hybrid nanofluid is higher compared with the regular nanofluid for each
parameters applied, as can be seen in Table 5.

Table 3 Values of f ′′ (0) and −θ′ (0) for regular fluid (ϕ1 = ϕ2 = 0) when λ = M = R = 0 and
P r = m = 1 with various values of S
f ′′ (0) −θ ′ (0)
S
Ref. [29] Ref. [31] Ref. [48] Present result Ref. [48] Present result
–1.0 0.756 58 0.756 6 0.760 5 0.756 575 0.570 5 0.570 465
–0.5 0.969 23 0.969 2 0.969 7 0.969 230 0.295 2 0.294 975
0.0 1.232 59 1.232 6 1.231 0 1.232 588 0.117 3 0.116 752
0.5 1.541 75 1.541 8 1.541 751 0.921 757
1.0 1.889 31 1.889 3 1.889 314 1.323 691
514 I. WAINI, A. ISHAK, and I. POP
1/2 −1/2
Table 4 Values of Rex Cf and Rex N ux for Cu/water nanofluid (ϕ1 = 0) when M = R = S = 0,
m = 1, and P r = 6.2 with various values of λ and ϕ2
1/2 −1/2
Rex Cf Rex N ux
λ ϕ2
Ref. [33] Ref. [59] Present result Ref. [33] Ref. [59] Present result
–0.5 0.01 1.573 697 0.589 813
0.05 1.885 501 0.706 314
0.10 2.286 5 2.286 512 0.838 5 0.838 510
0.20 3.182 6 3.182 538 1.080 2 1.080 308
0 0.01 1.296 890 1.157 073
0.05 1.553 850 1.269 379
0.10 1.884 3 1.884 3 1.884 324 1.404 3 1.404 3 1.404 327
0.20 2.622 6 2.622 6 2.622 743 1.669 2 1.669 2 1.669 338
0.5 0.01 0.750 507 1.623 251
0.05 0.899 208 1.733 859
0.10 1.090 4 1.090 453 1.872 4 1.872 386
0.20 1.517 7 1.517 774 2.157 7 2.157 690

1/2 −1/2
Table 5 Values of Rex Cf and Rex N ux for Cu/water nanofluid (ϕ1 = 0) and Cu-Al2 O3 /water
hybrid nanofluid (ϕ1 = 0.1) when P r = 6.2 for various values of ϕ2 , m, λ, S, M, and R
Cu/water (ϕ1 = 0) Cu-Al2 O3 /water (ϕ1 = 0.1)
ϕ2 m λ S M R 1/2 −1/2 1/2 −1/2
Rex Cf Rex N ux Rex Cf Rex N ux
0.01 0 0 0 0 0 0.349 380 0.637 362 0.449 759 0.755 153
0.05 0.418 605 0.704 281 0.523 678 0.826 686
0.10 0.507 634 0.784 958 0.620 850 0.914 715
0.10 0.1 0.759 136 0.896 873 0.928 443 1.043 167
0.2 0.949 851 0.979 326 1.161 693 1.137 970
0.3 1.109 476 1.048 695 1.356 919 1.217 812
0.3 –0.5 1.246 600 0.487 164 1.524 625 0.604 192
0 1.109 476 1.048 695 1.356 919 1.217 812
0.5 0.662 487 1.479 022 0.810 239 1.688 020
0 –0.5 0.793 173 0.203 342 0.990 736 0.325 445
0 1.109 476 1.048 695 1.356 919 1.217 812
0.5 1.491 404 2.521 201 1.794 009 2.629 983
0 0.5 1.444 263 1.112 627 1.823 639 1.299 128
1 1.716 538 1.156 448 2.195 503 1.352 569
2 2.161 993 1.216 595 2.796 428 1.423 824
0 0.5 1.109 476 1.359 077 1.356 919 1.495 397
1 1.109 476 1.631 305 1.356 919 1.744 520
2 1.109 476 2.105 356 1.356 919 2.186 158

1/2 −1/2
The skin friction coefficient Rex Cf and the local Nusselt number Rex N ux for selected
1/2
the parameters are plotted in Figs. 2–7. From these figures, the enhancement of Rex Cf and
−1/2
Rex N ux at the surface are observed with the increasing of ϕ2 and m for the upper branch.
1/2 −1/2
To be more specific, the variations of Rex Cf and Rex N ux with λ for some values of ϕ2
when S = 2.5, m = 0.3, M = ϕ1 = 0.1, R = 1, and P r = 6.2 are presented in Figs. 2 and
1/2
3. The variations of Rex Cf and Re−12 x N ux with λ for numerous values of m when R = 1,
S = 2.5, ϕ1 = ϕ2 = M = 0.1, and P r = 6.2 are depicted in Figs. 4 and 5. From Figs. 2–5, we
observe that the solutions are not unique for a certain critical value λc . No similarity solutions
are obtained when λ < λc due to the separation of the boundary layer from the surface.
It is noticed that the solution domain expands with the increases in ϕ2 and m, where the
critical values λc tend to move slightly to the left. The critical value of λ for ϕ2 = 0.01,
0.05, and 0.1 are λc = −3.081 8, –3.218 5, and –3.324 5, respectively, as shown in Figs. 2 and
3. Meanwhile, the critical values of λ for m = 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 are λc = −3.008 2, –3.181 2,
 MHD flow and heat transfer of a hybrid nanofluid past a permeable stretching/shrinking wedge 515
1/2
and –3.324 5 as can be seen in Figs. 4 and 5. The illustration of the variations of Rex Cf and
−1/2
Rex N ux with S for some values of ϕ2 when R = 1, λ = −3, m = 0.3, M = ϕ1 = 0.1, and
P r = 6.2 are given in Figs. 6 and 7, respectively. Note that the boundary layer separation is
delayed as ϕ2 increases where the critical value of S decreases. It is found that for ϕ2 = 0.01,
the solutions exist when Sc > 2.430 3. For ϕ2 = 0.05, the solutions exist when Sc > 2.326 1 and
for ϕ2 = 0.1, Sc > 2.254 3.

ϕ



 λD



λD




λD



3FY$G


4


N


.








 


'JSTU
TPMVUJPO
4FDPOE
TPMVUJPO

      
λ

1/2 −1/2
Fig. 2 Variation of Rex Cf with λ for various Fig. 3 Variation of Rex N ux with λ for
values of ϕ2 various values of ϕ2

 
'JSTU
TPMVUJPO
N



 λD


 4FDPOE
TPMVUJPO
λD


 N




 
λD



3FY/VY

λD



3FY$G

  λD



λD



 4


.









 









 

'JSTU
TPMVUJPO 3


4


.








 







 

4FDPOE
TPMVUJPO 1S


 
             
λ λ

1/2 −1/2
Fig. 4 Variation of Rex Cf with λ for various Fig. 5 Variation of Rex N ux with λ for
values of m various values of m

 
4D


 4D



4D


 4D




4D


 4D




 



3FY/VY


3FY$G

 











 

3







N


.













N


.









 
  
1S


'JSTU
TPMVUJPO 4FDPOE
TPMVUJPO 'JSTU
TPMVUJPO 4FDPOE
TPMVUJPO
 
         
4 4

1/2 −1/2
Fig. 6 Variation of Rex Cf with S for vari- Fig. 7 Variation of Rex N ux with S for
ous values of ϕ2 various values of ϕ2
516 I. WAINI, A. ISHAK, and I. POP

Figures 8–11 are plotted to describe the effect of ϕ2 and m toward the velocity f ′ (η) and
temperature θ(η) profiles for selected parameters. We note that all profiles in these figures
asymptotically fulfilled the infinity boundary conditions, which support the validity of the
numerical results. Results show that f ′ (η) increases while θ(η) decreases for the upper branch,
while opposite behaviors are observed for the lower branch with the increasing of ϕ2 and m. In
addition, the impacts of the radiation parameter R and the mass flux parameter S on the local
−1/2
Nusselt number Rex N ux when λ = −3, m = 0.3, ϕ1 = ϕ2 = M = 0.1, and P r = 6.2 are
−1/2
plotted in Fig. 12. We found that Rex N ux decreases for both branches in the presence of
radiation, which implies the reduction of the heat transfer rate at the surface. This observation
is supported by Fig. 13, which portrays that the surface temperature gradient is lower for larger
values of R. We also observe that the increase in radiation parameter R thickens the thermal
boundary layer for both branches. The radiation is dominant over conduction with the increase
in R. Therefore, fluid temperature θ(η) increases due to the presence of high radiation energy
in the flow field. From the numerical computations, we find that Sc = 2.254 3 for all values of
R.

 
'JSTU
TPMVUJPO 4FDPOE
TPMVUJPO
3







4


N


 .








1S


 

 


   




 




GĄ

 

 





4


N



.






 



'JSTU
TPMVUJPO 4FDPOE
TPMVUJPO      

           

Fig. 8 The velocity profiles f ′ (η) for various Fig. 9 The temperature profiles θ(η) for var-
values of ϕ2 ious values of ϕ2

 
'JSTU
TPMVUJPO 4FDPOE
TPMVUJPO
3







4


 .














1S


  


 N








GĄ

N













4


.














  
'JSTU
TPMVUJPO 4FDPOE
TPMVUJPO

           

Fig. 10 The velocity profiles f ′ (η) for various Fig. 11 Temperature profiles θ(η) for various
values of m values of m

The plot of the smallest eigenvalues γ against λ when S = 2.5, m = 0.3, and M = ϕ1 =
ϕ2 = 0.1 is depicted in Fig. 14. Referring to Eq. (21), an initial decay of disturbance occurs
for positive value of γ as τ → ∞, meaning that the flow is in a stable mode. In the mean-
time, an initial growth of disturbance occurs for negative values of γ, meaning that the flow
is in unstable mode. As λ approaches its critical value, λc , it is observed that γ tends to zero for
 MHD flow and heat transfer of a hybrid nanofluid past a permeable stretching/shrinking wedge 517

 
'JSTU
TPMVUJPO 4FDPOE
TPMVUJPO





4


N



 .














 
1S




3FY/VY

3



 

3






4D









N


.














  
1S



          
4

Fig. 12
−1/2
Variation of Rex N ux with S for Fig. 13 Temperature profiles θ(η) for various
various values of R values of R




6QQFS
CSBODI
TUBCMF

-PXFS
CSBODI
VOTUBCMF
D





4


N


.















 


    

Fig. 14 Smallest eigenvalues γ for various values of λ

both upper (stable) and lower (unstable) branches, implying that the transitions take place at
the turning (bifurcation) points.

5 Conclusions

In this paper, the flow and heat transfer over a permeable stretching/shrinking wedge in
a hybrid nanofluid with magnetic field and radiation effects is studied. The numerical results
show that hybrid nanofluid enhances the heat transfer rate compared with the regular nanofluid.
1/2 −1/2
It is found that the increasing of ϕ2 and m enhances the values of Rex Cf and Rex N ux .
The ranges of λ and S for which the dual solutions are in existence decreased as ϕ2 increases.
The increase in f ′ (η) and the decrease in θ(η) are observed with the increasing in ϕ2 and m for
the upper branch; meanwhile for the lower branch, the opposite behaviors are observed. The
reduction of the heat transfer rate is observed with the increase in the radiation parameter.
We also observed that the increase in radiation thickens the thermal boundary layer for both
branches. By conducting the temporal stability analysis, we show that the lower branch (sec-
ond) solution is not stable in a long run, whereas the upper branch (first) solution is stable and
thus physically reliable.

Acknowledgements The authors wish to express their gratitude to the reviewers for their con-
structive comments and suggestions.
518 I. WAINI, A. ISHAK, and I. POP

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