Free convection flow of a nanofluid past an isothermal inclined plate

In this paper, the natural convective boundary-layer flow of a nanofluid over an isothermal inclined plate is investigated numerically with the effects of Brownian motion and thermophoresis in the nanofluid model. The equations governing the flow are expressed in the form of coupled non-linear ordinary differential equations using the similarity analysis. These equations are then solved numerically by an implicit finite-difference method known as the Keller-box method. The effect of inclination angle on the dimensionless velocity, temperature, nanofluid volume fraction and Nusselt number has been analyzed through graphs. Brownian motion and thermophoresis effects on the Nusselt number at an inclined plate are also discussed. © (2013) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.