Falkner–Skan problem for a static and moving wedge with prescribed surface heat flux in a nanofluid

An analysis is carried out to study the problem of the steady flow and heat transfer over a static or moving wedge with a prescribed surface heat flux in a nanofluid. The governing partial differential equations are transformed into a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations using similarity transformation, before being solved numerically by the Keller box method and the Runge–Kutta–Fehlberg method with shooting technique. The features of the flow and heat transfer characteristics are analyzed and discussed. Three different types of nanoparticles are considered, namely copper Cu, alumina Al 2O 3 and titania TiO 2 with water as the base fluid. It is found that the skin friction coefficient and the heat transfer rate at the surface are highest for copper–water nanofluid compared to the alumina–water and titania–water nanofluids. Moreover, the heat transfer rate at the surface increases with the Falkner–Skan power law parameter m.