Exact analytical solutions of forced convection flow in a porous medium

The forced convection problem in a fluid saturated porous medium is conside red. For the self-similar boundary-layer flows past a plane or axisymmetric body with arbitrary shape embedded in this medium and having a power-law s urface temperature distribution, analytical solutions are given In the rang e lambda greater than or equal to 0 of the temperature exponent, the analyt ical results show an excellent agreement with previous numerical findings. In the range lambda < -1/ 2, the existence of a new class of unique solutio ns, while for - 1/2 < lambda < 0 the occurrence of multiple solutions is re ported. The heat transfer characteristics and the physical meaning of all t hese forced convection boundary-layer flows are discussed in detail. <(c)> 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd.