Unsteady flow and heat transfer of a second grade fluid over a stretching sheet

The problem of unsteady boundary layer flow of a second grade over a stretching sheet is investigated in this paper. The governing equations of motion are reduced into a partial differential equation with two independent variables by using similarity transformations. The heat transfer analysis has been also carried out for two heating processes namely the prescribed surface temperature (PST case) and prescribed surface heat flux (PHF case). The series solutions of the problem are developed by employing homotopy analysis method (HAM). Convergence of the obtained series solutions are analyzed. It is noted that the present solutions of a second grade are valid for all dimensionless times. Finally, the results are obtained and discussed through graphs for various parameters of interest. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.