Temperature and flow fields for the flow of a second grade fluid past a wedge

The effects of fluid viscoelasticity on the temperature and flow fields of the flow past a wedge were studied. The combined effects of the shape factor, suction/injection rates and viscoelasticity were analysed by the series expansion method, similarity transformation, fourth-order Runge-Kutta integration and the shooting method. The stream function was introduced into the momentum boundary layer equations of a second-grade fluid to eliminate the pressure terms. The energy equation is also analysed by the similarity transformation. The results indicated that the velocity profiles, temperature distributions, surface friction and heat transfer are greatly affected by the elastic parameter, the shape factor, the Prandtl number and the suction/injection rates. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.