Two-dimensional Blasius viscous flow of a power-law fluid over a semi-infinite flat plane

Analytic results are obtained for the similarity equation governing the two-dimensional Blasius viscous flow of a power-law fluid over a semi-infinite flat plane via Taylor series for small values of the independent similarity variable. Then, an analytic perturbative procedure is used to determine an approximate solution that exhibits the correct asymptotic behavior. This perturbation method allows for the computation of the shear stress at the wall, something which is impossible with a Taylor series approach. It is found that the perturbation solutions converge sufficiently rapidly; indeed, a first order approximation gives qualitatively accurate results. Furthermore, we employ the perturbation method to deduce the influence of the power-law index, n, on the obtained similarity solutions. (c) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3503774]