Local similarity solutions for boundary layer flow of a FENE-P fluid

We study the boundary layer flow past a semi-infinite plate of a viscoelastic fluid governed by the FENE-P model. In the limit as the Reynolds number Re -> infinity and the Wessenberg number We is such that We Re-1/2 = O(1), the stream function is governed by a generalized Blasuis' equation. A local similarity solution is obtained by a shooting method. The effect of extensibility on the skin friction and first normal stress coefficients are discussed. We show that the skin friction increases with the extensibility parameter b. As b approaches infinity the result reduces to Blasius' solution. Compared to Blasius' solution a reduction of up to 20% in the skin friction coefficient is possible for finite values of b. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.