Active and passive control of the stagnation point flow of Prandtl–Eyring fluid flow over a curved surface using CVFEM

Purpose This study aims to investigate two-dimensional non-Newtonian stagnation point Prandtl–Eyring fluid (PEF) flow past a porous stretching curved surface. The objective is to investigate how non-Newtonian (PEF) fluids perform thermally for optimizing industrial polymers. Design/methodology/approach The curved sheet is assumed to stretch in a circular direction. The first-order chemical reactivity effect has been used in the concentration equation. The Brownian motion and thermophoresis effects have been used in energy and concentration equations to control the thermal features of the flow system. To investigate the control mechanism, the active and passive approaches have been used at the boundaries of the flow system. The famous approaches, control volume finite element method (CVFEM) and homotopy analysis method (HAM), have been implemented to solve modeled equations in dimensionless form. Findings As outcomes of this study, it has revealed that with growth in PEF factors, the thermal optimization escalated. Skin friction has maximum growth in case of variations in the PEF parameter, as a higher drag force is experienced by the fluid in this scenario. The current numerical data has been compared with experimental published work, which also ensured that the current results are accurate and reliable because of their higher correlation with the existing published experimental study. Originality/value It has been revealed that the PEF flow has not yet been evaluated with an active/passive approach. The stagnation point flow over a curved surface by means of PEF is novel. The CVFEM and HAM solution for this particular problem is also new.