Analysis of Boundary Layer Flow of Power‐Law Fluid Over Inclined Stretching/Shrinking Cylinder

ABSTRACT The study examines the steady boundary layer flow and heat and mass transfer of a power‐law fluid over an inclined cylinder that is expanding or contracting. The nonlinear ODEs are obtained from the governing PDEs of energy, momentum, and concentration by applying the appropriate similarity transformations to address temperature, velocity, and concentration distributions. These nonlinear equations are solved numerically in Matlab software using the bvp4c function. The velocity, temperature, and concentration profiles are analyzed for varying parameter values to understand their influence on the boundary layer development. Contour plots of the Nusselt and Sherwood numbers are produced with regard to the important parameters to visualize the local heat and mass transfer rates. The findings indicate that the power‐law index significantly modifies the velocity, thermal, and solutal boundary layers, while the inclination angle regulates buoyancy‐driven effects. The stretching parameter enhances flow stability and heat and mass transfer, whereas shrinking promotes boundary‐layer separation. Thermal and solutal Grashof numbers further intensify convection, as evident from the Nusselt and Sherwood number contours. These findings provide practical guidance for engineering applications such as polymer extrusion, wire coating, and chemical processing, where control of boundary‐layer behavior is crucial for design improvements and efficiency enhancement in real‐world thermal and mass transport systems.