Unsteady stagnation-point flow of upper-convected Oldroyd-B nanofluid with variable thermal conductivity and relaxation-retardation double-diffusion model

Purpose This paper aims to examine the unsteady stagnation-point flow, heat and mass transfer of upper-convected Oldroyd-B nanofluid along a stretching sheet. The thermal conductivity is taken in a temperature-dependent fashion. With the aid of Cattaneo-Christov double-diffusion theory, relaxation-retardation double-diffusion model is advanced, which considers not only the effect of relaxation time but also the influence of retardation time. Convective heat transfer is not ignored. Additionally, experiments verify that with sodium carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) solutions as base fluid, not only the flow curve conforms to Oldroyd-B model but also thermal conductivity decreases linearly with the increase of temperature. Design/methodology/approach The suitable pseudo similarity transformations are adopted to address partial differential equations to ordinary differential equations, which are computed analytically through homotopy analysis method (HAM). Findings It is worth noting that the increase of stagnation-point parameter diminishes momentum loss, so that the velocity enlarges, which makes boundary layer thickness thinner. With the increase of thermal retardation time parameter, the nanofluid temperature rises that implies heat penetration depth boosts up and the additional time required for nanofluid to heat transfer to surrounding nanoparticles is less, which is similar to the effects of concentration retardation time parameter on concentration field. Originality/value This paper aims to explore the unsteady stagnation-point flow, heat and mass transfer of upper-convected Oldroyd-B nanofluid with variable thermal conductivity and relaxation-retardation double-diffusion model.