Heat transfer analysis of MHD Prandtl-Eyring fluid flow with Christov-Cattaneo heat flux model

The current problem focuses on the heat transfer analysis of the non-Newtonian Prandtl-Eyring fluid flow under an applied magnetic field over a variable stretching sheet. The variable stretching is assumed because most of the practical situations have variable stretching surfaces. In addition, heat transfer is a very important phenomenon in many applications like the extrusion of sheets, cooling of plants, etc. Thus, heat transfer is estimated with the Christov-Cattaneo heat conduction law to get more realistic results. The physical problem is mathematically modeled with all these assumptions, it yields the boundary value problem of the coupled nonlinear partial differential equations. The governing partial differential equations are first transformed into ordinary differential equations by employing a set of similarity transforms. And, the obtained ordinary differential system is numerically simulated with the shooting method for different parametric conditions. The proposed algorithm is quite efficient and implemented to solve the nonlinear governing equations very efficiently. Variations in fluid momentum and thermal energy are captured in graphs by varying flow govern parameters. In addition, the surface drag coefficient and reduced Nusselt number are computed and analyzed. For the validation of the computed results, a comparison is established with existing literature, it can be shown that computed results matched very well with reported literature. It is observed that both fluid parameters (α,β) have different effects on fluid velocity i.e. fluid parameter α increases it while fluid parameter β decelerates it. Also, the applied magnetic field produces Lorentz force which works in the opposite direction and hence it decelerates the fluid motion significantly. The drag force coefficient of variable stretching is higher and hence this surface is less favorable for fluid movement as compared to linear stretching. In addition, the fluid temperature cools down if the thermal relaxation phenomenon is considered.