LAUSR

Abstract The heat transfer rate of thermal Marangoni convection in ethylene glycol-based titanium nanoliquid is optimized by using the Response Surface Methodology (RSM). Two different heat sources (i.e. the temperature-related heat source (THS) and the space-related exponential heat source (ESHS)) are included in the thermal analysis. Aggregation of nanoparticles and inclined magnetism are also considered. The modified Krieger-Dougherty model and the modified Maxwell-Bruggeman model are used to analyze the aggregation aspect of the nanoparticles. The resulting nonlinear system is treated numerically by using the finite difference method. The sensitivity of the heat transfer rate to the thermal radiation parameter, the ESHS parameter, and the THS parameter is examined by using the RSM model. The individual impact of the actual parameters on various flow fields is compared and visualized by graphs. The heat transfer rate is positively sensitive to thermal radiation and negatively sensitive to the parameters of the heat source. Besides, the ESHS aspect has a greater impact on the heat transfer rate than the THS aspect. The velocity flow field is decelerated significantly ( 5.31 % near the interface) by the magnetic field inclination angle.