Hydromagnetic stagnation point flow of a second grade fluid over a stretching sheet

We establish the existence and uniqueness results over the semi-infinite interval [0, infinity) for a class of non-linear fourth order ordinary differential equations arising in the hydromagnetic stagnation point flow of a second grade fluid over a stretching sheet In particular, we establish the existence and uniqueness results, and properties of physically meaningful solutions for several sets Of values of the parameters M, K, s, chi and C Then, a method of obtaining analytical solutions for this general class of differential equations is outlined Front such a general method, we are able to obtain ail analytical expression for the shear stress at the wall in terms of the physical parameters of the model Numerical results are Used to illustrate the properties of the velocity field and the shear stress at the wall We find that the viscoelastic parameter K has a smoothing effect on the flow field Further more, an increase in K results in a decrease in the magnitude of the shear stress at the wall (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved