Polymer presence in boundary layer flow and heat transfer of dusty fluid over a stretching surface

PurposeTo explore the fusion of dust particles and of polymers in a viscous liquid is the main purpose of this article. Newtonian fluid as a base fluid is considered and the mutual presence of polymers and dusty bodies is investigated. It discusses the steady laminar flow and heat transportation of a polymeric dusty liquid induced by a uniformly heated, penetrable and stretchable surface inside the boundary layer.Design/methodology/approachThe mathematical system incorporates separate equations of energy and momentum for dusty bodies and for fluid. The classical Oldroyd-B model is chosen for exploring polymer presence. For the fluid phase, this model adds another stress to the conservation law of momentum. Appropriate similarity variables are introduced to transform the system of partial differential equations (PDEs) into a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs). The problem is solved by introducing a numerical iterative procedure which turned out to be fastly converging.FindingsExpeditious changes inside the boundary layer cause polymers to deform. No changes outside the boundary layer are noticed on account of polymer stretching. The dependence of heat transfer rate and skin friction on the parameter of polymer concentration and Weissenberg number is analyzed and displayed graphically against interaction parameters for temperature and velocity, dust particles’ mass concentration, Eckert and Prandtl numbers. Combining effects of polymers and dust particles cause skin friction to decrease and heat transfer rate to increase. Increasing values of interaction parameter for velocity, dust particles’ mass concentration and Eckert number reduces the drag coefficient and local Nusselt number. On the other hand, the Prandtl number and interaction parameter of temperature magnify the heat flux at the wall.Research limitations/implicationsThis article studies the infinite extensibility of polymers. FENE and FENE-P models can be used to investigate the polymer presence in dusty fluids in the future.Originality/valueIn this article, the authors’ aim is to study the combined presence of polymers and dusty bodies. Keeping the existing literature in view, this type of fusion is not studied yet. Polymer inclusion in a viscous dusty fluid is studied and the behavior of fluid flow and heat transportation is investigated within the boundary layer over a permeable linearly stretching sheet.