Comparative investigation on radiative and heat generation effects of ternary hybrid nanofluid flow over a curved permeable surface: Stability analysis

Abstract

Ternary hybrid nanofluid has numerous applications in transportation, electronics, and energy sectors. These include solar collectors, modern electronic devices cooling systems, nuclear reactors, aircraft, and automobiles. Therefore, the unsteady flow of a ternary hybrid nanofluid past a curved stretching/shrinking surface with mass suction is explored. The nanomaterials of Fe₃O₄, Al₂O₃ and ZnO are immersed in a base fluid such as kerosene oil or water to form a ternary hybrid nanofluid. The impacts of time-dependent magnetic field, thermal radiation, and heat generation are also considered. Suitable similarity variables are applied for the conversion of partial differential equations into ordinary differential equations. Then, these equations are solved numerically with bvp4c solver in MATLAB. Dual solutions are discovered in a particular range of stretching/shrinking parameter. To establish a stable solution, a stability test is implemented by computing the smallest eigenvalues. The results yield that dual solutions range is higher with ternary hybrid nanofluid. The heat transport rate is elevated by growing the magnetic parameter and heat generation parameter. The profiles of velocity and shear stress are higher with kerosene oil while the temperature profile is higher with water as the base fluid. The fluid velocity and shear stress have a direct relation with magnetic parameter and suction parameter while the fluid temperature has an inverse relation with them. The fluid temperature is escalated by augmenting the radiation parameter and heat generation parameter. The stability test confirms that only the first solution is stable whereas the second solution is unstable. Some potential uses for this study include high-temperature and cooling processes, medications, biosensors, aerospace technologies, and metallic coatings.