Ain Shams Engineering Journal (2016) xxx, xxxxxx

Ain Shams University

Ain Shams Engineering Journal

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MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Analytical approximation of MHD nano-fluid flow

induced by a stretching permeable surface using
Buongiornos model
Hossein Ajam a,*, Seyed Sajad Jafari b, Navid Freidoonimehr b
a
b

Faculty of Engineering, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, P.O. Box No. 91775-1111, Mashhad, Iran
Young Researchers & Elite Club, Hamedan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Hamedan, Iran

Received 29 September 2015; revised 14 February 2016; accepted 9 March 2016

KEYWORDS
Nano-fluid;
MHD;
Buongiornos model;
Stretching surface;
Optimal HAM

Abstract In the current study, the flow problem resulting from the stretching of a surface with
convective conditions in a magnetohydrodynamic nano-fluid employing Buongiornos model is
examined using Optimal Homotopy Analysis Method (OHAM). Effects of Brownian motion and
thermophoresis on MHD flow of nano-fluid are accounted in the presence of both heat and
nanoparticle mass transfer convective conditions. The governing partial differential equations
(PDEs) are transformed into highly nonlinear coupled ordinary differential equations (ODEs) consisting of the momentum, energy and concentration equations via appropriate similarity transformations. The current optimal HAM solution illustrates very good correlation with those of the
previously published studies in the especial cases. The influences of different flow physical governing
parameters including magnetic parameter, Brownian motion parameter and thermophoresis parameter, Lewis number, suction parameter, and thermal and concentration Biot numbers on fluid velocity component, temperature distribution and concentration profile are discussed in details. The
results present that OHAM is able to display excellent potential, convergence and accuracy for simulating nano-fluid problems. Moreover, the species boundary layer thins and the concentration profiles become steeper when Lewis number is increased. Applying suction at the vertical surface causes
the hydrodynamic boundary-layer to get thinner and also the thermal and species boundary-layer
get depressed by increasing the suction parameter.
2016 Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an
open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction
* Corresponding author.
Peer review under responsibility of Ain Shams University.

Production and hosting by Elsevier

Nano-fluid is a fluid that is created by distribution of solid

particles with dimensions less than 100 nm in fluids. A low
thermal conductivity of a nano-fluid is one of its remarkable
parameters that can limit the heat transfer performance. In
addition, the classical heat transfer fluids such as ethylene

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2016.03.006
2090-4479 2016 Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Please cite this article in press as: Ajam H et al., Analytical approximation of MHD nano-fluid flow induced by a stretching permeable surface using Buongiornos
model, Ain Shams Eng J (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2016.03.006

H. Ajam et al.
uw (x)
Stretching surface
velocity

Magnetic field

Momentum , thermal &

species boundary-layers
Permeable v
surface w

Nano-fluid Regime

x, u
y, v,

Figure 2 Total error vs. order of approximation when

and
M 1; Nb Nt 0:1; Pr 0:71; Le 1; fw 0:5,
Bih Bi/ 0:2.

Slot

Figure 1 Schematic of the flow configuration and geometrical

coordinates.

Table 1 Optimal values of convergence control parameters

versus
different
orders
of
approximation
when
and
M 1; Nb Nt 0:1; Pr 0:71; Le 1; fw 0:5,
Bih Bi/ 0:2.
Order of
approximation

etm

2
3
4
5

0.814795
0.778872
0.757650
0.742644

1.06036
1.39275
1.31798
1.34669

1.42803
1.39655
1.45749
1.47889

4.3  104
5.56  105
7.71  106
1.55  106

Table 2 Individual averaged squared residual errors using

optimal
values
of
auxiliary
parameters
when
and
M 1; Nb Nt 0:1; Pr 0:71; Le 1; fw 0:5,
Bih Bi/ 0:2.
m
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20

ehm

emf
4

4.07  10
1.51  105
1.54  106
1.89  107
2.47  108
3.67  109
4.64  1010
6.34  1011
8.45  1012
1.09  1012

e/m
5

1.01  10
1.79  106
4.19  107
1.13  107
3.36  108
1.06  108
3.54  109
1.22  109
4.34  1010
1.58  1010

1.25  105
7.95  107
1.80  107
2.96  108
9.21  109
2.64  109
7.47  1010
3.74  1010
1.09  1010
5.95  1011

glycol, water and engine oil have limited heat transfer capabilities due to their low thermal conductivity and thus cannot
congregate with modern cooling requirements. On the other
hand thermal conductivity of metals is extremely higher in
comparison with the conventional heat transfer fluids. Suspending the ultrafine solid metallic particles in technological
fluids causes an increase in the thermal conductivity. This is

Table 3 Comparison result of h0 0 in the absence of

nanoparticle for different value of Prandtl number when
M fw 0 and Bih ; Bi/ ! 1.
Pr

Wang
[44]

Gorla and
Sidawi [45]

Khan and
Pop [46]

Makinde
and Aziz
[47]

Present
results

0.70
2.00
7.00

0.4539
0.9114
1.8954

0.5349
0.9114
1.8905

0.4539
0.9113
1.8954

0.4539
0.9114
1.8954

0.4539
0.9114
1.8954

one of the most modern and appropriate methods for increasing the coefficient of heat transfer. Choi and Eastman [1] were
probably the first who employed a mixture of nanoparticles
and base fluid designated as Nano-fluid. These particles
are usually made of metals or metal oxides. Due to the higher
thermal conductivity of these particles compared to the conventional fluids commonly used in heat transfer, it is expected
that the nano-fluids have a better thermal efficiency than the
base fluid.
Sheikholeslami et al. [2] investigated the effect of a magnetic field on natural convection in a half-annulus enclosure
with one wall under a constant heat flux using control volume
based finite element method. Abolbashari et al. [3] employed
HAM to study the entropy analysis in an unsteady MHD
nano-fluid regime adjacent to an accelerating stretching permeable surface with the water as the base fluid and four different
types of nanoparticles such as copper, copper oxide, aluminum
oxide and titanium dioxide. In another study, the same authors
[4] provided an analytical investigation of the fluid flow, heat
and mass transfer and entropy generation for the steady laminar non-Newtonian nano-fluid flow induced by a stretching
sheet in the presence of velocity slip and convective surface
boundary conditions using optimal HAM. Rashidi et al. [5]
numerically compared the two phase and single phase of heat
transfer and flow field of copperwater nano-fluid in a wavy
channel. They used CFD for the heat transfer and flow prediction of the single phase and three different two-phase models
(mixture, volume of fluid (VOF), and Eulerian). Freidoonimehr et al. [6] investigated the transient MHD laminar free
convection flow of nano-fluid past a vertical surface. Their

Please cite this article in press as: Ajam H et al., Analytical approximation of MHD nano-fluid flow induced by a stretching permeable surface using Buongiornos
model, Ain Shams Eng J (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2016.03.006

Analytical approximation of MHD nano-fluid flow

(a)

(b)

0.125

M=0
M=1
M=2
M=3
M=4
M=5

0.8

M=0
M=1
M=2
M=3
M=4
M=5

0.1

0.075

0.4

0.05

0.2

0.025

f' ( )

0.6

(c)

0.15
M=0
M=1
M=2
M=3
M=4
M=5

0.12

0.09

0.06

0.03

Figure 3 Effect of magnetic parameter on the (a) velocity profile, (b) temperature and (c) concentration distributions when
Nb Nt Bih Bi/ 0:1 and Le fw 1.

(a)

0.1

(b)
Nb = 0.1
Nb = 0.3
Nb = 0.5
Nb = 0.7
Nb = 0.9

0.08

0.15

0.06

0.09

0.04

0.06

0.02

0.03

Nb = 0.1
Nb = 0.3
Nb = 0.5
Nb = 0.7
Nb = 0.9

0.12

Figure 4 Effect of Brownian motion parameter on the (a) temperature and (b) concentration distributions when Nt Bih Bi/ 0:1
and M Le fw 1.

Please cite this article in press as: Ajam H et al., Analytical approximation of MHD nano-fluid flow induced by a stretching permeable surface using Buongiornos
model, Ain Shams Eng J (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2016.03.006

H. Ajam et al.

(a)

(b)

0.1
Nt = 0.1
Nt = 0.3
Nt = 0.5
Nt = 0.7
Nt = 0.9

0.08

0.6
Nt = 0.1
Nt = 0.3
Nt = 0.5
Nt = 0.7
Nt = 0.9

0.5

0.4
0.06
0.3
0.04
0.2
0.02

0.1

Figure 5 Effect of thermophoresis parameter on the (a) temperature and (b) concentration distributions when Nb Bih Bi/ 0:1 and
M Le fw 1.

0.15

Le = 1
Le = 2
Le = 3
Le = 4
Le = 5

0.12

( )

0.09

0.06

0.03

Figure 6 Effect of Lewis number on the concentration distribution when Nb Nt Bih Bi/ 0:1 and M fw 1.

studied vertical surface was considered porous and stretched

under acceleration. Further, Jafari and Freidoonimehr [7]
studied the second law of thermodynamics over a stretching
permeable surface in the presence of the uniform vertical magnetic field in the slip nano-fluid regime. Apart from the above
mentioned articles, there are several other studies about the
nanofluid applications [814].
The study of heat transfer in the stretched flow is important
because of its extensive applications in chemical engineering.
Several processes in chemical engineering including metallurgical and polymer extrusion processes involved cooling of molten liquid being stretched into a cooling system, glass-fiber
and paper production. In such processes, the rates of cooling
and stretching highly influence the quality of final product.

Bachok et al. [15] studied the steady boundary-layer flow of

nano-fluid past a moving semi-infinite flat plate in a uniform
free stream. Rashidi et al. [16] examined free convective heat
and mass transfer in a steady 2D MHD fluid flow over a
stretching vertical surface in porous medium. Nadeem et al.
[17] considered two-dimensional steady incompressible
Oldroyd-B nanofluid flow past a stretching sheet. Moreover,
Rashidi et al. [18] analyzed the convective flow of a third grade
non-Newtonian fluid due to a linearly stretching sheet subject
to a magnetic field. There are also several other famous articles
contributed to the stretching flow analysis in the recent years
[1922].
Understanding magneto-hydrodynamics (MHD) is
strongly related to the comprehension of physical effects that
take place in MHD. When a conductor moves into a magnetic
field, electric current is induced in the conductor and creates its
own magnetic field (Lenzs law). Since the induced magnetic
field tends to eliminate the original and external supported
field, the magnetic field lines will be excluded from the conductor. Conversely, when the magnetic field influences the conductor to move it out of the field, the induced field amplifies the
applied field. The net result of this process is that the lines of
force appear to be dragged accompanied by the conductor.
In this paper the conductor is the fluid with complex motions.
To understand the second key effect which is dynamical we
should know that when currents are induced by a motion of
a conducting fluid through a magnetic field, a Lorentz force
acts on the fluid and modifies its motion. In MHD, the motion
modifies the field and vice versa. This makes the theory highly
nonlinear [16,23].
In recent decades, researchers have performed several studies in the fields of the MHD applications. Rashidi and Freidoonimehr [24] employed DTM-Pade analytical method to
solve the flow and heat transfer near the equator of an magnetohydrodynamic boundary-layer over a porous rotating
sphere. Rashidi et al. [25] performed the second law of thermodynamics analysis of a rotating porous disk in the presence of a
magnetic field with temperature-dependent thermo-physical
properties numerically using fourth-order RungeKutta
method. Further, Rashidi et al. [26] investigated the combined

Please cite this article in press as: Ajam H et al., Analytical approximation of MHD nano-fluid flow induced by a stretching permeable surface using Buongiornos
model, Ain Shams Eng J (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2016.03.006

Analytical approximation of MHD nano-fluid flow

(a)

(b)

1
fw = 0
fw = 1
fw = 2
fw = 3
fw = 4
fw = 5

0.8

0.25
fw = 0
fw = 1
fw = 2
fw = 3
fw = 4
fw = 5

0.2

0.15

f' ( )

( )

0.6

0.4

0.1

0.2

0.05

(c)

10

0.3
fw = 0
fw = 1
fw = 2
fw = 3
fw = 4
fw = 5

0.25

( )

0.2

0.15

0.1

0.05

10

Figure 7 Effect of suction parameter on the (a) velocity profile, (b) temperature and (c) concentration distributions when
Nb Nt Bih Bi/ 0:1 and M Le 1.

heat and mass transfer by mixed convective flow along a moving vertical flat plate with hydrodynamic slip and thermal convective boundary condition. Nadeem et al. [27] studied 2D
boundary-layer flows and the heat transfer of a Maxwell fluid
past a stretching sheet in the presence of MHD effect. Rashidi
et al. [28] employed a combination of the differential transform
method (DTM) and Pade approximation method to solve the
system of nonlinear differential equations modeling the flow of
a Newtonian magnetic lubricant squeeze film with magnetic
induction effects incorporated. Freidoonimehr and Rashidi
[29] presented dual solution for the problem of magnetohydrodynamic JefferyHamel nano-fluid flow in non-parallel
walls. MHD and its vast applications have been studied a lot
in recent decades [3032].
Homotopy analysis method (HAM), one of the most known
and reliable techniques to solve nonlinear problems, was
employed by Liao, for the first time, to offer a general analytical
method for nonlinear problems [33,34]. Nowadays, HAM has
been employed by researchers in different nonlinear problems.
Considering the effects of Brownian motion and thermophoresis, Mustafa et al. [35] studied the stagnation point flow of a

nano-fluid toward a stretching sheet using HAM. The mixed

convection of an incompressible Maxwell fluid flow over a vertical stretching surface was studied by Abbas et al. [36] via HAM,
considering both cases of assisting and opposing flows. Thermal
radiation effect on an exponential stretching surface was displayed by Sajid and Hayat [37] via HAM. Rashidi et al. [38]
investigated the MHD mixed convective heat transfer for an
incompressible, laminar, and electrically conducting viscoelastic.
In another study, Rashidi et al. [39] employed HAM to study the
nano-fluid flow regime adjacent to a nonlinearly porous stretching sheet. Further, Freidoonimehr et al. [40] employed a definitely new analytical technique, called predictor homotopy
analysis method (PHAM) to solve the problem of twodimensional nanofluid flow through expanding or contracting
gaps with permeable walls. Freidoonimehr and Rahimi [41]
employed the powerful analytical HAM to study the problem
of the steady laminar flow and heat transfer generated by two
infinite parallel disks separated by a gas-filled micro-gap in the
presence of velocity slip and temperature jump conditions.
The current study is mainly motivated by the need to
understand the MHD boundary-layer flow over a permeable

Please cite this article in press as: Ajam H et al., Analytical approximation of MHD nano-fluid flow induced by a stretching permeable surface using Buongiornos
model, Ain Shams Eng J (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2016.03.006

H. Ajam et al.

(a)

(b)

0.5
Bi
Bi
Bi
Bi
Bi

0.4

= 0.1
= 0.3
= 0.5
= 0.7
= 0.9

0.4
0.35

Bi
Bi
Bi
Bi
Bi

0.3

= 0.1
= 0.3
= 0.5
= 0.7
= 0.9

0.25

( )

( )

0.3

0.2

0.2
0.15
0.1

0.1
0.05
0

Figure 8 Effect of thermal Biot number on the (a) temperature and (b) concentration distributions when Nb Nt Bi/ 0:1 and
M Le fw 1.

(a)

(b)

0.1
Bi
Bi
Bi
Bi
Bi

0.08

= 0.1
= 0.3
= 0.5
= 0.7
= 0.9

0.5
Bi
Bi
Bi
Bi
Bi

0.4

0.06

= 0.1
= 0.3
= 0.5
= 0.7
= 0.9

( )

( )

0.3

0.04

0.2

0.02

0.1

Figure 9 Effect of concentration Biot number on the (a) temperature and (b) concentration distributions when Nb Nt Bih 0:1 and
M Le fw 1.

stretching surface in a nano-fluid with convective conditions

considering the effects of Brownian motion and thermophoresis. This model has important applications in heat transfer
enhancement in the renewable energy systems and industrial
thermal management, and also in material processing. The
OHAM is employed to study the effects of physical flow
parameters such as magnetic parameter, Brownian motion
parameter and thermophoresis parameter, Lewis number, suction parameter, and thermal and concentration Biot numbers
on the fluid velocity component, temperature and concentration distributions, and reduced Nusselt and Sherwood numbers. The graphs are plotted and discussed for the variations
of different involved parameters in details.
2. Problem statement and governing equations
Assume the steady, laminar and incompressible MHD Nanofluid boundary layer flow over a vertical stretching surface,

as displayed in Fig. 1. The flow generation is due to the linear

stretching of the sheet. Convective thermal and nanoparticle
concentration conditions at the boundary are assumed. Tw is
the convective surface temperature and T1 is the ambient temperature, Cw is the concentration of nanoparticles at the sheet
and C1 is the ambient concentration. The flow occupies the
domain y > 0. The sheet is stretched in x-direction by keeping
the origin fixed. The velocity of the sheet along x-direction is
uw x ax. Influences of Brownian motion and thermophoretic diffusion of nanoparticles are further considered
in the transport equations. The magnetic Reynolds number
is assumed very small. Thus, it is conceivable to neglect the
induced magnetic field in comparison with the applied magnetic field. Physical properties of the fluid are assumed constant. In this problem, it is also considered that the viscous
dissipation is negligibly small. The basic two-dimensional
equations governing the conservations of mass, momentum,
energy, and nanoparticles diffusion for the nano-fluid using

Please cite this article in press as: Ajam H et al., Analytical approximation of MHD nano-fluid flow induced by a stretching permeable surface using Buongiornos
model, Ain Shams Eng J (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2016.03.006

Analytical approximation of MHD nano-fluid flow

7
where u and v are the velocity component in the x and y directions, respectively, m l=q is the kinematic viscosity, q is the
fluid density, r is the electrical conductivity, B0 is the magnetic
field imposed along the y-axis, T is the fluid temperature, a is
the thermal diffusivity, cp is the specific heat at constant pressure, s qcp =qcf is the ratio of the effective heat capacity
of the nanoparticle material to the effective heat capacity of
the base fluid, C is the nanoparticle fluid concentration, DB
is the Brownian diffusion coefficient, and DT is the thermophoretic diffusion coefficient. The corresponding boundary
conditions are expressed as follows:
@T
h1 Tw  T;
u uw x; v vw ; k
@y
@C
h2 Cw  C; at y 0;
 DB
5
@y

-1

fw = 1
fw = 3
fw = 5

Cf Rex1/2

-2

-3

-4

-5

u ! 0;
-6

Figure 10 Variation of the skin friction coefficient with respect

to magnetic parameter for different values of suction parameter.

g a=m1=2 y;
1
hg TTT
;
w T1

the aforesaid assumptions with Boussinesq and boundarylayer approximations and using Buongiornos model, can be
written as follows:

(



2 )

2 
@T
@T
@ T
@C @T
DT @T
v
a

s DB
;
u
@x
@y
@y2
@y @y
T1 @y

@C
@C
v
DB
@x
@y


@2C
DT @ 2 T

;
@y2
T1 @y2

f 000 g fgf 00 g  f 0 g2  Mf 0 g 0;



2
h00 g Pr fgh0 g Nbh0 g/0 g Nth0 g 0;

Nt 00
h g 0;
Nb

10

where M rB20 =qa is the magnetic parameter, Pr m=a is the

Prandtl number, Nb sDB Cw  C1 =m is the Brownian
motion parameter, Nt sDT Tw  T1 =mT1 is the thermophoresis parameter, and Le a=DB is the Lewis number.

(a) -0.0896

(b) -0.086
Nb = 0.1
Nb = 0.3
Nb = 0.5

-0.0898

-0.088

Shx / Rex1/2

-0.09

Nux / Rex1/2

wx; y ma1=2 xfg;

1
/g CCC
;
w C1

/00 g Lefg/0 g
3

as y ! 1;

where f; h and / are the self-similar velocity, temperature and

concentration, respectively and also g is a scaled boundarylayer coordinate. Using the aforesaid equations, Eq. (1) is
identically satisfied and Eqs. (2)(4) become

@u
@u
@ 2 u rB2
v
m 2  0 u;
u
q
@x
@y
@y

C ! C1 ;

where vw is velocity of the mass transfer perpendicular to the

stretching surface, k is the thermal conductivity and h1 and
h2 are the heat transfer and nanoparticle mass transfer coefficients. The following dimensionless functions and the similarity variable are introduced as follows:

@u @v

0;
@x @y

T ! T1 ;

-0.0902

-0.0904

Nb = 0.1
Nb = 0.3
Nb = 0.5

-0.09

-0.0906

-0.0908

-0.092

Figure 11 Variation of the (a) reduced Nusselt number and (b) reduced Sherwood number with respect to magnetic parameter for
different values of Brownian motion parameter when Nt Bih Bi/ 0:1 and Le fw 1.

Please cite this article in press as: Ajam H et al., Analytical approximation of MHD nano-fluid flow induced by a stretching permeable surface using Buongiornos
model, Ain Shams Eng J (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2016.03.006

H. Ajam et al.

(a)

(b)

-0.0896
Nt = 0.1
Nt = 0.3
Nt = 0.5

-0.0898

-0.065

-0.0902

-0.075

-0.0904

-0.08

-0.0906

-0.085

-0.0908

Nt = 0.1
Nt = 0.3
Nt = 0.5

-0.07

Shx / Rex1/2

-0.09

Nux / Rex1/2

-0.06

-0.09

Figure 12 Variation of the (a) reduced Nusselt number and (b) reduced Sherwood number with respect to magnetic parameter for
different values of thermophoresis parameter when Nb Bih Bi/ 0:1 and Le fw 1.

(a)

(b)

-0.05

-0.06

-0.1

Bi = 0.1
Bi = 0.3
Bi = 0.5

-0.065

-0.15

Bi = 0.1
Bi = 0.3
Bi = 0.5

-0.2

-0.07

Shx / Rex1/2

Nux / Rex1/2

-0.055

-0.25
-0.3

-0.075
-0.08
-0.085

-0.35

-0.09

-0.4

-0.095

-0.45

-0.1
0

fw

fw

Figure 13 Variation of the (a) reduced Nusselt number and (b) reduced Sherwood number with respect to suction parameter for
different values of thermal Biot number when Nb Nt Bi/ 0:1 and M Le 1.

In addition, the converted boundary conditions are prescribed

as follows:
f0 fw ; f 0 0 1; h0 0 Bih 1  h0;
/0 0 Bi/ 1  /0;

Cf

sw
;
qu2w

Nux

xqw
;
kTw  T1

Shx

xqm
;
DB Cw  C1
13

11

f 0 1 ! 0;

h1 ! 0; /1 ! 0;
12
p
is
the
suction
parameter,
where
fw vw = ma
p
Bih h1 =k m=a is the thermal Biot number and
p
Bi/ h2 =DB m=a is the concentration Biot number.
3. Physical quantities of interest
The physical quantities of interest, governed the flow, are the
skin friction coefficient Cf , the local Nusselt number Nux
and the local mass diffusion flux, local Sherwood number,
Shx from the stretching sheet, which are defined as follows:

where sw is the skin friction, qw and qm are the heat flux and
mass flux at the surface, respectively, which are given by






@u
@T
@C
sw l
; qw k
; qm DB
;
@y y0
@y y0
@y y0
14
Applying the non-dimensional transformations (7), one
obtains
00
Cf Re1=2
x f 0;

Nux =Rex1=2 h0 0;

0
Shx =Re1=2
x / 0;

15
where Rex uw x=m is the local Reynolds number based on the
stretching velocity uw x.

Please cite this article in press as: Ajam H et al., Analytical approximation of MHD nano-fluid flow induced by a stretching permeable surface using Buongiornos
model, Ain Shams Eng J (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2016.03.006

Analytical approximation of MHD nano-fluid flow

(a)

(b) -0.05

-0.07

-0.1

Bi = 0.1
Bi = 0.3
Bi = 0.5

-0.075

-0.15

Bi = 0.1
Bi = 0.3
Bi = 0.5

Shx / Rex1/2

Nux / Rex1/2

-0.08

-0.085

-0.2
-0.25
-0.3

-0.09
-0.35
-0.095
-0.4
-0.1

fw

-0.45

fw

Figure 14 Variation of the (a) reduced Nusselt number and (b) reduced Sherwood number with respect to suction parameter for
different values of concentration Biot number when Nb Nt Bih 0:1 and M Le 1.

^
^
^ q @3 fg;q
^ q @ 2 fg;q
N f fg;
fg;

@g3
@g2
h
i
^ q; ^
^ q
hg; q; /g;
N h fg;

4. Solution by Optimal Homotopy Analysis Method

4.1. HAM solution
Due to HAM theory, the functions fg, h(g) and /g, by a set
of base functions fgk expng; k P 0; n P 0g; can be
expressed as follows:
fm g

1 X
1
X
akm;n gk expng;

hm g
/m g

bkm;n gk expng;

16

n0 k0
1 X
1
X

ckm;n gk expng;

n0 k0

where akm;n ; bkm;n , and ckm;n are the coefficients to be determined.

Initial approximations and auxiliary linear operators are chosen as follows:

@ f
@f
Lf @g
3  @g ;

g

h0 g BiBihhe1 ;
2

@ h
Lh @g
2  h;

/0 g
2

Bi/ eg
Bi/ 1

L/ @@g/2  /;

17

The aforesaid auxiliary linear operators have the following

properties:
Lf C1 C2 eg C3 eg 0;
Lh C4 eg C5 eg 0;
L/ C6 eg C7 eg 0;

2

^
@ fg;q
@g

 M @ fg;q
;
@g

 ^ 2
2
^
1 @ ^hg;q
^ q @ ^hg;q Nb @^hg;q @ /g;q
fg;
Nt @ hg;q
;
Pr
@g
@g
@g
@g
@g2
h
i
^ q; ^
^ q
hg; q; /g;
N / fg;


2^
2
^
Nt @ ^hg;q
^ q @ /g;q

Le
fg;
;
Nb
@ /g;q
2
@g
@g
@g2
20

n0 k0
1 X
1
X

f0 g fw 1  eg ;

18

where Ci i 1  7 are the arbitrary constants. The zeroth

order deformation problems can be obtained as follows:
h
i
h
i
^ q  f g qhf N f fg;
^ q ;
1  qLf fg;
0
h
i
h
i
^ q; ^hg; q; /g;
^ q ;
1  qLh ^hg; q  h0 g qhh N h fg;
h
i
h
i
^ q  / g qh/ N / fg;
^ q; ^hg; q; /g;
^ q ;
1  qL/ /g;
0

f ; 
hh and 
h/ are the nonwhere q is an embedding parameter, h
zero auxiliary parameters and N f ; N h and N / are the nonlinear operators. For q 0 and q 1 one has the following:
^ 0 f g;
fg;
0
^
hg; 0 h0 g;
^ 0 / g;
/g;

^ 1 fg;
fg;
^
hg; 1 hg;

21

^ 1 /g;
/g;

In other word, when variation of q is taken from 0 to 1 then

^ q; ^
^ q vary from f g; h0 g, and / g to
fg;
hg; q and /g;
0
0
fg, h(g), and /g. Taylors series expansion of these functions yields the following:
fg; q f0 g

1
X
fm gqm ;
m1
1
X

hg; q h0 g

hm gqm ;

22

m1
1
X

/g; q /0 g

/m gqm ;

m1

where


1 @ m fg; q
1 @ m hg; q
;
h
g

;
m
m! @gm q0
m! @gm q0

1 @ m /g; q
/m g
;
m! @gm 
fm g

23

q0

19

Please cite this article in press as: Ajam H et al., Analytical approximation of MHD nano-fluid flow induced by a stretching permeable surface using Buongiornos
model, Ain Shams Eng J (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2016.03.006

10

H. Ajam et al.

It should be noted that the convergence in the above series

strongly depends upon hf ; hh and h/ . Assuming that these nonzero auxiliary parameters are chosen so that Eq. (22) converges
at q 1. Hence, one can obtain the following:
fg f0 g

1
X
fm g;

j0

hm g;

24

j0

Lf fm g  vm fm1 g hf Rf;m g;

25

where
fm 0 fm0 0  cfm00 0 fm0 1 0;
h0m 0  Bihm 0 hm 1 0;
/m 0 /m 1 0;

m1 
X

fj g

@ 2 fmj1 g
@g2

26

@fj g @fmj1 g
@g
@g

j0
g
;
M @fm1
@g

Rh;m g @

m1 
X
@h
g
@hj g
Pr
fj g mj1
Nb @g
@g

hm1 g
@g2

j0

n g @hmj1 g
Nt @h@g
@g

R/;m g @

/m1 g
@g2

m1 
X

Le

@/mj1 g
@g

fj g

@/m1j g
@g

Nt
Nb

@ 2 hm1 g
;
@g2

j0

27
and
vm

0 m61
1 m>1

i0

i0

32
5 dg;
gjdg

i0

i0

i0

32
5 dg;

gjdg

Due to Liao [42]

Lh hm g  vm hm1 g hh Rh;m g;

L/ /m g  vm /m1 g h/ R/;m g;

fm1 g
@g3

gjdg

30

The corresponding mth order problems are given by the

following:

i0

/m g;

m1

Rf;m g @

5 dg;

2
!
k
m
m
m
X
X
X
X
1
^
^
^
4N /
e/m k1
fg;
hg;
/g

m1
1
X

/g /0 g

i0

32

2
!
k
m
m
m
X
X
X
X
h
1
^
^
^
4N h
em k1
fg;
hg;
/g
j0

m1
1
X

hg h0 g

2
!
k
m
X
X
f
1
^
4
em k1
Nf
fg

28

Finally, the general solutions were written as follows:

fm g fm g C1 C2 eg C3 eg ;
hm g hm g C4 eg C5 eg ;
/m g /m g C6 eg C7 eg ;

29

where fm g; hm g and /m g are the special solutions.

4.2. Optimal convergence control parameters
It must be remarked that the series solutions (25) contain the
nonzero auxiliary parameters hf ; hh and h/ , which determine
the convergence region and also rate of the homotopy series
solutions. To obtain the optimal values of hf ; hh and 
h/ , here
the so-called average residual error defined by Ref. [42] were
used as follows:

etm

emf ehm e/m ;

31

where
is the total squared residual error, dg 0:5 and
k 20. Total average squared residual error is minimized by
employing Mathematica package BVPh2.0 [43]. The command
Minimize to obtain the corresponding local optimal convergence control parameters was used. Table 1 presents the optimal values of convergence control parameters as well as the
minimum values of total averaged squared residual error versus different orders of approximation for the special case.
Table 2 displays the individual average squared residual error
at different orders of approximations using the optimal values
from Table 1. In addition, Fig. 2 illustrates the maximum average squared residual error at different orders of approximation
for the special case. It can be obviously seen that the averaged
squared residual errors and total averaged squared residual
errors are getting smaller as the order of approximation is
increased. Hence, optimal HAM gives us freedom to select
any set of local convergence control parameters to obtain convergent results. A comparison has been done between the
obtained results of h0 0 with the results of the previously
published studies of Wang [44], Gorla and Sidawi [45], Khan
and Pop [46], and Makinde and Aziz [47]. The comparisons
are displayed in Table 3. A very excellent agreement can be
observed between them which illustrated the high confidence
of present simulation.
etm

5. Results and discussion

The nonlinear ordinary differential Eqs. (8)(10) subject to the
boundary conditions (11) and (12) are solved analytically using
Optimal Homotopy Analysis Method (OHAM) via Mathematica package BVPh2.0 for some values of magnetic parameter,
Brownian motion parameter and thermophoresis parameter,
Lewis number, suction parameter, and thermal and concentration Biot numbers.
Fig. 3 depicts the effect of magnetic parameter on the velocity profile as well as temperature and concentration distributions. A drag-like force that was named Lorentz force is
created by the infliction of the vertical magnetic field to the
electrically conducting fluid. This force has the tendency to
slow down the flow over the vertical surface. Due to the aforesaid explanation, the velocity boundary-layer thickness gets
depressed and the temperature and concentration distributions
increase slightly with the increase in the magnetic parameter. It
clearly demonstrates that the transverse magnetic field opposes
the transport phenomena. It is important to mention that the
large resistances on the fluid particles, which cause heat to

Please cite this article in press as: Ajam H et al., Analytical approximation of MHD nano-fluid flow induced by a stretching permeable surface using Buongiornos
model, Ain Shams Eng J (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2016.03.006

Analytical approximation of MHD nano-fluid flow

be generated in the fluid, apply as the vertical magnetic field
increases.
The effects of Brownian motion parameter Nb and thermophoresis parameter Nt on the temperature distribution
and concentration profile are displayed in Figs. 4 and 5.
Increasing Brownian motion parameter as well as thermophoresis parameter raises the temperature values throughout the regime. Therefore, the distribution of nano-particles
in the flow regime over the stretching sheet can be arranged
via the Brownian motion mechanism (higher values of Nb or
Nt) and cooling of the regime can be also achieved via smaller
Nb or Nt values. Moreover, larger concentration boundary
layer thickness is obtained with lower Nb values. In addition,
the concentration boundary layer thickness is enhanced with
increasing thermophoresis parameter. Hence, thermophoresis
assists nanoparticle diffusion in the boundary layer.
The effects of Lewis number on the concentration profile
are presented in Fig. 6. Lewis number represents the relative
contribution of thermal diffusion rate to species diffusion rate
in the boundary layer regime. Le based on the definition is the
ratio of the Schmidt number to the Prandtl number, so when
Le = 1, both heat and species will diffuse at the same rate
and when Le > 1.0, heat will diffuse more rapidly than species. The species boundary layer thins and the concentration
profiles become steeper when Lewis number is increased.
Fig. 7 shows the effect of suction parameter on the velocity,
temperature and concentration distributions. In the current
investigation, the suction parameter has been applied, because
the primary assumption in boundary-layer definition says that
the boundary-layer thickness is supposed to be practically very
thin (according to the boundary-layer assumption presented
by Prandtl in 1904). Applying suction at the vertical surface
causes to draw the amount of the fluid into the surface and
consequently the hydrodynamic boundary-layer gets thinner
and also the thermal and species boundary-layer get depressed
by increasing the suction parameter.
Figs. 8 and 9 demonstrate the effect of the thermal Bih
and concentration Bi/ Biot numbers on the dimensionless
temperature and concentration fields. It is obvious that the
constant wall temperature case h0 1 is achieved by considering sufficiently large values of thermal Biot number. The
increasing values of both Biot numbers imply an increase in
the heat transfer coefficient. This increase in heat transfer coefficient in turn increases the temperature. Further, it is obvious
that the thermal boundary layer is less sensitive to the variation of concentration Biot number compared to the thermal
Biot number variation. Moreover, the concentration field
/g, being driven by the temperature field, increases with
an increase in thermal and concentration Biot numbers.
Figs. 1014 present the numerical results for the skin friction coefficient Cf Re1=2
reduced Nusselt number
x ,

and
the
reduced
Sherwood
number Shx =Re1=2
Nux =Re1=2
x
x
for wide ranges of the magnetic and suction parameters and
different physical parameters, i.e. Brownian motion and thermophoresis parameters as well as thermal and concentration
Biot numbers.
6. Conclusion
The optimal HAM has been employed to solve the transformed differential equations describing the steady laminar

11
nano-fluid flow induced by a stretching permeable sheet in
the presence of both heat and nanoparticle mass transfer convective surface boundary conditions using Buongiorno model.
The present OHAM computations agree closely with the previous studies available in the current literature. The effects of
the seven key thermo-physical parameters governing the flow
i.e. magnetic parameter, Brownian motion parameter and thermophoresis parameter, Lewis number, suction parameter, and
thermal and concentration Biot numbers on dimensionless
velocity profile, temperature and concentration distributions,
skin friction coefficient, the reduced Nusselt and Sherwood
numbers have been presented graphically and interpreted in
details. The results illustrate that OHAM is able to demonstrate excellent potential, convergence and accuracy for simulating nano-fluid problems.
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H. Ajam received his PhD in Mechanical

Engineering from Isfahan University of
Technology (IUT) in 2001. He is currently
Associate Professor at the Department of
Mechanical Engineering, Ferdowsi University
of Mashhad, Iran. His current research interest includes thermodynamic analysing of
power systems, energy conversion, heat
transfer and fluid flow.

Please cite this article in press as: Ajam H et al., Analytical approximation of MHD nano-fluid flow induced by a stretching permeable surface using Buongiornos
model, Ain Shams Eng J (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2016.03.006