Stagnation-point flow and heat transfer over an exponentially shrinking sheet

An analysis is carried out to investigate the stagnation-point flow and heat transfer over an exponentially shrinking sheet. Using the boundary layer approximation and a similarity transformation in exponential form, the governing mathematical equations are transformed into coupled, nonlinear ordinary differential equations which are then solved numerically by a shooting method with fourth order Runge-Kutta integration scheme. The analysis reveals that a solution exists only when the velocity ratio parameter satisfies the inequality -1.487068 <= c/a. Also, the numerical calculations exhibit the existence of dual solutions for the velocity and the temperature fields: and it is observed that their boundary layers are thinner for the first solution (in comparison with the second). Moreover, the heat transfer from the sheet increases with an increase in c/a for the first solution, while the heat transfer decreases with increasing c/a for the second solution, and ultimately heat absorption occurs. (C) 2011 Elsevier BM. All rights reserved.