Influences of Variable Thermal Conductivity, Viscous Dissipation, and Cattaneo–Christov Heat and Mass Fluxes on MHD Tangent Hyperbolic Ternary Hybrid Nanofluid Flow Over a Stretching Sheet

This study focuses on the heat and mass transfer characteristics of magnetohydrodynamic tangent hyperbolic ternary hybrid nanofluid flow over a stretching plate, incorporating complex factors such as variable thermal conductivity, Joule heating, viscous dissipation, chemical reactions, Darcy–Forchheimer flow, and Cattaneo–Christov heat and mass fluxes, alongside nonlinear thermal radiation. The research employs ternary hybrid nanofluids composed of copper, silver, and aluminum oxide nanoparticles suspended in ethylene glycol, which are selected for their superior thermal conductivity and potential to enhance heat transfer efficiency. These nanofluids are of significant importance for applications in energy systems, heat exchangers, aerospace, and electronic cooling, where efficient thermal management is crucial. The study systematically analyzes how key physical factors including viscous dissipation, Joule heating, thermal and concentration relaxation times, the Darcy–Forchheimer effect, and nanoparticle volume fraction affect the flow and thermal behaviors of the fluid. The governing partial differential equations are transformed into ordinary differential equations using a similarity variable and are solved numerically with the sixth-order Runge–Kutta (RK6) method in MATLAB. Results are benchmarked against previous literature to verify accuracy. The findings reveal that an increase in the magnetic field, porosity, Forchheimer number, and nanoparticle volume fraction reduces the flow velocity. Conversely, the temperature distributions are enhanced by the magnetic field, Eckert number, variable thermal conductivity, and higher nanoparticle concentration. Additionally, the concentration profile decreases with higher concentration relaxation time and chemical reaction rate. Notably, the Nusselt number increases with nanoparticle volume fraction and thermal relaxation time, significantly improving heat transfer efficiency. The results demonstrate that ternary hybrid nanofluids can significantly enhance heat and mass transfer, with promising applications in industrial cooling, renewable energy, and biomedical systems, while providing valuable insights for advancing energy and environmental technologies.