Boundary layer flow over a moving surface in a nanofluid beneath a uniform free stream

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to theoretically investigate the steady two‐dimensional boundary‐layer flow past a moving semi‐infinite flat plate in a water‐based nanofluid containing three different types of nanoparticles: copper (cuprum) Cu, alumina (aluminium oxide) Al2O3, and titania (titanium dioxide) TiO2.The effects of moving parameter λ as well as solid volume fraction parameter φ on the flow and heat transfer characteristics are studied.Taking into account the rising demands of modern technology, including chemical production, power stations and microelectronics, there is a need to develop new types of fluids that will be more effective in terms of heat exchange performance.Design/methodology/approach – A similarity transformation is used to reduce the governing partial differential equations to a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations which are then solved numerically using Keller‐box method.Findings– There is a region of unique solutions for λ>0, however, multiple (dual) solutions exist for λc<λ≤0 and no solutions for λ<λc<0. A reverse flow is formed when λ