Hydromagnetic flow of a Cu–water nanofluid past a moving wedge with viscous dissipation

A numerical study is performed to investigate the flow and heat transfer at the surface of a permeable wedge immersed in a copper (Cu)–water-based nanofluid in the presence of magnetic field and viscous dissipation using a nanofluid model proposed by Tiwari and Das (Tiwari I K and Das M K 2007 Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 50 2002). A similarity solution for the transformed governing equation is obtained, and those equations are solved by employing a numerical shooting technique with a fourth-order Runge–Kutta integration scheme. A comparison with previously published work is carried out and shows that they are in good agreement with each other. The effects of velocity ratio parameter λ, solid volume fraction φ, magnetic field M, viscous dissipation E_c, and suction parameter F_w on the fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics are discussed. The unique and dual solutions for self-similar equations of the flow and heat transfer are analyzed numerically. Moreover, the range of the velocity ratio parameter for which the solution exists increases in the presence of magnetic field and suction parameter. (electromagnetism, optics, acoustics, heat transfer, classical mechanics, and fluid dynamics)