Stagnation-Point Flow and Heat Transfer over a Nonlinearly Stretching/Shrinking Sheet in a Micropolar Fluid

Abstract

This paper considers the problem of a steady two-dimensional stagnation-point flow and heat transfer of an incompressible micropolar fluid over a nonlinearly stretching/shrinking sheet. A similarity transformation is employed to convert the partial differential equations into nonlinear ordinary ones which are then solved numerically using a shooting method. Numerical results obtained are presented graphically, showing the effects of the micropolar or material parameter and the stretching/shrinking parameter on the flow field and heat transfer characteristics. The dual solutions are found to exist in a limited range of the stretching/shrinking parameter for the shrinking case, while unique solutions are possible for all positive values of the stretching/shrinking parameter (stretching case). It is also observed that the skin friction coefficient and the magnitude of the local Nusselt number increase as the material parameter increases.