Radiation effects for the Blasius and Sakiadis flows with a convective surface boundary condition

This study aims to analyze the effects of thermal radiation on the laminar boundary layer about a flat-plate in a uniform stream of fluid (Blasius flow), and about a moving plate in a quiescent ambient fluid (Sakiadis flow) both under a convective surface boundary condition. The resulting similarity energy equation is solved numerically and the variations of dimensionless surface temperature and fluid-solid interface characteristics for different values of Prandtl number Pr, radiation parameter N-R and parameter a, which characterizes our convection processes are graphed and tabulated. Quite different and interesting behaviours were encountered for a Blasius flow compared with a Sakiadis flow. A comparison with previously published results on special case of the problem shows excellent agreement. (c) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.