Perturbation analysis of a modified second grade fluid over a porous plate

A modified second grade non-Newtonian fluid model is considered. The model is a combination of power-law and second grade fluids in which the fluid may exhibit normal stresses, shear thinning or shear thickening behaviors. The flow of this fluid is considered over a porous plate. Equations of motion in dimensionless form are derived. When the power-law effects are small compared to second grade effects, a regular perturbation problem arises which is solved. The validity criterion for the solution is derived. When second grade effects are small compared to power-law effects, or when both effects are small, the problem becomes a boundary layer problem for which the solutions are also obtained. Perturbation solutions are contrasted with the numerical solutions. For the regular perturbation problem of small power-law effects, an excellent match is observed between the solutions if the validity criterion is met. For the boundary layer solution of vanishing second grade effects however, the agreement with the numerical data is not good. When both effects are considered small, the boundary layer solution leads to the same solution given in the case of a regular perturbation problem.