Free convection above a heated horizontal circular disk

The free convection boundary layer flow above a heated horizontal disk is considered. The equations of motion are solved numerically starting at the circumference of the disk where the flow is basically the same as that above a flat plate. The importance of the curvature effects increases as the centre is approached. It is shown that near the centre, the boundary-layer thickness is very large, and that the flow splits up into two distinct regions. There is a thin viscous region next to the disk of thickness ofO(r ^2/3), wherer measures distance from the centre and a thick outer inviscid region of thickness ofO(r ^?2/3).