Stagnation flows for the Oldroyd-B fluid

Exact solutions to the plane and axi-symmetric stagnation flows of an Oldroyd-B fluid are reported. It is found that a steady flow is possible if the Weissenberg numberWi, defined by the product of the Maxwellian relaxation time and the shear rate at infinity, satisfies – 1/2 <Wi < 1/m, wherem = 1 in an axisym-metric flow andm = 2 in a plane flow. Furthermore, the fluid elasticity always decreases the boundary-layer thickness. An Oldroyd-B fluid with the parameters matched those of a typical Boger fluid behaves essentially like a Newtonian fluid in a stagnation flow.