New Theoretical and Numerical Results for the Boundary-Layer Flow of a Nanofluid Past a Stretching Sheet

Nanofluid flow is one of the most important areas of research in the present time due to its wide applications in industry and many other fields. The problem of the boundary layer flow of a nanofluid past a stretching sheet was firstly introduced and studied numerically by Khan and Pop [7]. This important problem is re-investigated analytically. There is no doubt that the exact solutions of any physical model, when available, are of great importance and certainly would lead to a better understanding of the physical aspects of the model. Moreover, the obtained exact solutions play an important role in the validation of any of the numerical methods used in this important growing field of nanofluid flows. The objective of the present paper is not only to search for such exact solutions but also to give exact formulae for the reduced Nusselt number and the reduced Sherwood number which are two quantities of practical interest in such field. The present analytical results have not been reported in the earlier literatures. Moreover, the numerical results are obtained at some moderate and high values of Prandtl and Lewis numbers.