LAUSR

With an objective to unfold the flow and heat transfer characteristics of carbon nanotubes between two stretchable coaxial rotating disks, the present investigation has been carried out. The behavior of single- and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs and MWCNTs) taking water as the base fluid is analyzed. To formulate the energy equation, we have incorporated Cattaneo–Christov heat flux model. Consideration of such kind of model accounts the contribution by thermal relaxation. von Karman transformation has been implemented in order to reconstruct the governing partial differential equations into a system of ordinary differential equations. Employing optimal homotopy analysis method series solutions are obtained. Error analysis has also been performed and presented in tabular form. The physical clarifications for the behavior of fluid velocity, temperature, skin friction coefficient and Nusselt number are well demonstrated with the help of graphs and contour plots. One of the major outcomes of the present study signifies that water-based SWCNTs have a tendency to cause less drag and higher rate of heat transfer as compared to water-based MWCNTs. This investigation finds numerous applications in different mechanisms of thermal conversion for nuclear propulsion and spacecraft.