Abstract
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present the problem of three-dimensional flow of a fluid of constant density forced through the porous bottom of a circular porous slider moving laterally on a flat plate. Design/methodology/approach - The transformed nonlinear ordinary differential equations are solved via the homotopy perturbation method (HPM) for small as well as moderately large Reynolds numbers. The convergence of the obtained HPM solution is carefully analyzed. Finally, the validity of results is verified by comparing with numerical methods and existing numerical results. Findings - Close agreement of the two sets of results is observed, thus demonstrating the accuracy of the HPM approach for the particular problem considered. Originality/value - Interesting conclusions which can be drawn from this study are that HPM is very effective and simple compared to the existing solution method, able to solve problems without using Padé approximants and can therefore be considered as a clear advantage over the N.M. Bujurke and Phan-Thien techniques.