Unsteady slip flow of special second-grade fluid induced by Fe₃O₄ particles past a movable sheet with magnetic and nonlinear heat source/sink

Abstract

Purpose Ferrofluids are aqueous or non-aqueous solutions with colloidal particles of iron oxide nanoparticles with high magnetic characteristics. Their magnetic characteristics enable them to be controlled and manipulated when ferrofluids are exposed to magnetic fields. This study aims to inspect the features of unsteady stagnation point flow (SPF) and heat flux from the surface by incorporating ferromagnetic particles through a special kind of second-grade fluid (SGF) across a movable sheet with a nonlinear heat source/sink and magnetic field effect. The mass suction/injection and stretching/shrinking boundary conditions are also inspected to calculate the fine points of the features of multiple solutions. Design/methodology/approach The leading equations that govern the ferrofluid flow are reduced to a group of ordinary differential equations by applying similarity variables. The converted equations are numerically solved through the bvp4c solver. Afterward, study and discussion are carried out to examine the different physical parameters of the characteristics of nanofluid flow and thermal properties. Findings Multiple solutions are revealed to happen for situations of unsteadiness, shrinking as well as stretching sheets. Greater suction slows the separation of the boundary layers and causes the critical values to expand. The region where the multiple solutions appear is observed to expand with increasing values of the magnetic, non-Newtonian and suction parameters. Moreover, the fluid velocity significantly uplifts while the temperature declines due to the suction parameter. Originality/value The novelty of the work is to deliberate the impact of mass suction/injection on the unsteady SPF through the special second-grade ferrofluids across a movable sheet with an erratic heat source/sink. The confirmed results provide a very good consistency with the accepted papers. Previous studies have not yet fully explored the entire analysis of the proposed model.