Abstract: | The present study investigates the influence of the magnetic field, thermal radiation, Prandtl number, and leading‐edge accretion/ablation on Blasius and Sakiadis flow. The convective boundary condition is employed to investigate the heat transfer. The nondimensional governing boundary layer equations have been solved by the homotopy analysis method for different values of the pertinent parameters. The effects of these parameters on the dimensionless velocity, temperature, skin friction, and Nusselt number are also investigated for various values of relevant parameters affecting the flow and heat transfer phenomena. The most relevant outcomes of the present study are that enhancement in magnetic field strength undermines the flow velocity establishing thinner velocity boundary layer for both Blasius and Sakiadis flows while an increase in accretion/ablation effect at leading‐edge manifests in a deceleration in velocity for Blasius case and the opposite trend is observed for Sakiadis flow. Another important outcome is that an increase in radiation and accretion/ablation at leading‐edge upsurges the fluid temperature leading to enhancement in the thermal boundary layer. For both Blasius and Sakiadis flow, the skin friction coefficient and the heat transfer rate decline with the enhancement of the leading‐edge accretion parameter. The results are compared with the existing data and are found in good agreement. |