Viscoelastic rotational free convection and coupled heat-mass transfer flow with heat generation and chemical reaction effects

Abstract This work examines the free convection rotational flow of a second-grade (viscoelastic) fluid when a first-order chemical reaction and heat production are present. Such flows are important in marine and offshore engineering systems, where time-dependent boundary motion plays a significant role. To capture this behavior, the plate velocity is modeled using a generalized unsteady function f(t). The Laplace transform method is used to convert the governing equations for momentum, heat, and mass transport into dimensionless form and solve them analytically. The obtained results are also demonstrated graphically to see the effect of controlling parameters. The results indicate that viscoelastic effects enhance the near-wall velocity, whereas rotational effects suppress fluid motion. Stronger chemical reactions decrease the concentration field, whereas heat production broadens the temperature distribution and thickens the thermal boundary layer. It is also noticed that the heat transfer rate rises with heat generation, whereas the mass transfer rate decreases with increasing reaction rate. In addition, skin friction is found to increase with viscoelastic effects. In the limiting case( $$\alpha $$ -second grade parametr $$=0$$ ), the model reduces to the classical Newtonian fluid, confirming its validity. The present study provides useful insights into coupled heat and mass transfer in rotating non-Newtonian fluids, with potential applications in ocean engineering and marine energy systems.