Stress-driven stagnation-point boundary layer ($f^{\prime \prime \prime }+f{f}^{\prime \prime }+1-(f^{\prime }{)}^2=0$)

For a fluid occupying $z<0$, match an outer stagnation point flow $u=x,w=-z$ to a flat impermeable interface with dimensionless shear stress $\beta x$. With boundary layer thickness $\delta ={\mathrm{Re}}^{-1/2}$, inner variable $\zeta =z/\delta$ and $\gamma =\delta \beta$, the leading boundary-layer equation admits $u=x{f}^{\prime }(\zeta )$ and $w=-\delta f(\zeta )$. Incompressibility is automatic, and tangential momentum conservation gives the displayed ordinary differential equation, with $f(0)=0$, $f^{\prime \prime }(0)=\gamma$ and $f^{\prime }\to 1$ at $\zeta \to -\infty$. The sign of this far-field endpoint is fixed by the fluid domain. This is a prescribed-traction interface; it does not impose a no-slip boundary condition.

For the stress-driven stagnation-point boundary layer on $\zeta <0$, a regular perturbation $f=\zeta +\gamma f_1+O({\gamma }^2)$ gives $g=f_1^{\prime }$ satisfying $g^{\prime \prime }+\zeta g^{\prime }-2g=0$, $g^{\prime }(0)=1$ and $g(-\infty )=0$. Reduction of order with the known solution $1+{\zeta }^2$ givesIndeed, writing $g=(1+{\zeta }^2)v$ gives $v^{\prime }=C{e}^{-{\zeta }^2/2}/(1+{\zeta }^2{)}^2$; decay at $-\infty$ fixes the lower endpoint and $g^{\prime }(0)=1$ fixes $C=1$. The integral at zero is $\sqrt{2\pi }/4=\sqrt{\pi /8}$, as follows by differentiating the antiderivativeHere $\mathrm{erf}$ is the error function. Thus positive imposed outward shear stress increases the outward surface velocity by the displayed first-order factor. Replacing decay at $-\infty$ by decay at $+\infty$ while leaving the equation and wall derivative unchanged reverses this coefficient and describes a different problem.