Influence of variable viscosity and local thermal non-equilibrium on nanofluid flow stability in an inclined porous channel

Abstract

This study delves into the influence of local thermal non-equilibrium and changing viscosity on the stability of nanofluid flow in an inclined porous channel. The flow in the porous region governs Brinkman’s equation as well as a three-field model for temperature, with each field constitute the fluid, particle, and solid-matrix phases individually. Eigenvalue problem for a perturbed state is obtained using a normal mode analysis, and the problem is afterwards solved by the utilization of the Chebyshev spectral collocation method. Impact of various local thermal non-equilibrium parameters, critical Rayleigh number, and associated wavenumber are graphically displayed. Increasing values of the modified thermal capacity ratios, modified thermal diffusivity ratios, variable viscosity parameter, and channel inclination decrease the system’s stability for the interphase heat transfer parameter, which means these parameters destabilize the flow. Flow is most unstable when the channel is vertically oriented and the variable viscosity parameter ( $k$ ) = 0.5.