Boundary layer thickness

This page describes some parameters used to measure 4.91x/ Rex

the properties of boundary layers. Consider a station-
ary body with a turbulent ow moving around it, like the For turbulent boundary layers over a at plate, the bound-
semi-innite at plate with air owing over the top of the ary layer thickness is given by:
plate. At the solid walls of the body the uid satises a
no-slip boundary condition and has zero velocity, but as
you move away from the wall, the velocity of the ow 0.382x/Rex 1/5
asymptotically approaches the free stream mean veloc-
ity. Therefore it is impossible to dene a sharp point at where
which the boundary layer becomes the free stream, yet
this layer has a well-dened characteristic thickness. The
parameters below provide a useful denition of this char- Rex = u0 x/
acteristic, measurable thickness.
is the overall thickness (or height) of the
boundary layer
1 Motivations for boundary layers Rex is the Reynolds Number

Main article: Boundary layer is the density

As the Navier-Stokes equations that describe the motion
of uids are not solved in the general case, simplifying as-
sumptions are used to describe approximate behaviour.
For a uid of low viscosity (compared to the geometri-
cal conguration of the problem), the Reynolds number
is large and the viscous term in the Navier-Stokes equa-
tion is small compared to the inertial term in much of the
space. However, this is not true near the boundaries of the
uid and this description fails to capture some important
behavior in a lot of real systems, for instance the Krmn ness.
vortex street or the drag force on an airplane wing.
u0 is the freestream velocity
x is the distance downstream from the start of
the boundary layer
is the kinematic viscosity
is the dynamic viscosity
The velocity thickness can also be referred to as the Soole
ratio, although the gradient of the thickness over distance
would be adversely proportional to that of velocity thick-

3 Displacement thickness
2 99% Boundary Layer thickness
The displacement thickness, * or 1 is the distance by
The boundary layer thickness, , is the distance across which a surface would have to be moved in the direction
a boundary layer from the wall to a point where the ow perpendicular to its normal vector away from the refer-
velocity has essentially reached the 'free stream' velocity, ence plane in an inviscid uid stream of velocity u0 to
u0 . This distance is dened normal to the wall, and the give the same ow rate as occurs between the surface and
point where the ow velocity is essentially that of the free the reference plane in a real uid.[1]
stream is customarily dened as the point where:
In practical aerodynamics, the displacement thickness es-
sentially modies the shape of a body immersed in a uid
u(y) = 0.99uo to allow an inviscid solution. It is commonly used in aero-
dynamics to overcome the diculty inherent in the fact
For laminar boundary layers over a at plate, the Blasius that the uid velocity in the boundary layer approaches
solution gives: asymptotically to the free stream value as distance from
the wall increases at any given location.

x The denition of the displacement thickness for
4.91 compressible ow is based on mass ow rate:
u0

1
2 7 REFERENCES

The inuence of uid viscosity creates a wall shear stress,

( ) w , which extracts energy from the mean ow. The
(y)u(y)
= 1 dy boundary layer can be considered to possess a total mo-
0 0 u0 mentum ux decit, due to the frictional dissipation.
The denition for incompressible ow can be based on
volumetric ow rate, as the density is constant:
u(y) (uo u(y)) dy
0
( )
u(y) Other length scales describing viscous boundary layers
= 1 dy
0 u0 include the energy thickness, 3 .
Where 0 and u0 are the density and velocity in the 'free
stream' outside the boundary layer, and y is the coordinate
normal to the wall. 5 Shape factor
For boundary layer calculations, the density and velocity
A shape factor is used in boundary layer ow to deter-
at the edge of the boundary layer must be used, as there
mine the nature of the ow.
is no free stream. In the equations above, 0 and u0 are
therefore replaced with e and ue .
The displacement thickness is used to calculate the
boundary layers shape factor. H =

where H is the shape factor, is the displacement thick-
ness and is the momentum thickness. The higher the
4 Momentum thickness value of H, the stronger the adverse pressure gradient.
A high adverse pressure gradient can greatly reduce the
The momentum thickness, or 2 , is the distance by Reynolds number at which transition into turbulence may
which a surface would have to be moved parallel to itself occur.
towards the reference plane in an inviscid uid stream of
Conventionally, H = 2.59 (Blasius boundary layer) is typ-
velocity u0 to give the same total momentum as exists be-
ical of laminar ows, while H = 1.3 - 1.4 is typical of
tween the surface and the reference plane in a real uid.[1]
turbulent ows.
The denition of the momentum thickness for
compressible ow is based on mass ow rate:
6 Further reading
( )
(y)u(y) u(y)
= 1 dy F.M. White, Fluid Mechanics, McGraw-Hill, 5th
0 0 uo uo
Edition, 2003.
The denition for incompressible ow can be based on B.R. Munson, D.F. Young and T.H. Okiishi, Fun-
volumetric ow rate, as the density is constant: damentals of Fluid Mechanics, John Wiley, 4th
Edition, 2002.
( )
u(y) u(y) B. Massey and J. Ward-Smith, Mechanics of Flu-
= 1 dy
0 uo uo ids, Taylor and Francis, 8th Edition, 2006.

Where 0 and u0 are the density and velocity in the 'free

stream' outside the boundary layer, and y is the coordinate
normal to the wall.
7 References
For boundary layer calculations, the density and velocity [1] Schlichting, H. (1979) Boundary-Layer Theory McGraw
at the edge of the boundary layer must be used, as there Hill, New York, U.S.A..
is no free stream. In the equations above, 0 and u0 are
therefore replaced with e and ue .
For a at plate at no angle of attack with a laminar bound-
ary layer, the Blasius solution gives

x
0.664
uo
 3

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