Mixed Convection on a Horizontal Surface Embedded in a Porous Medium: the Structure of a Singularity

The mixed convection boundary-layer flow on a horizontal impermeable surface embedded in a saturated porous medium and driven by a local heat source is considered. Similarity solutions are obtained for specific outer flow variations and these are shown to have a solution only for parameter values greater than some critical value. When this is not the case the solution develops a singularity at a finite distance from the leading edge. The nature of this singularity is also discussed.