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6.

Boundary–Layer Equations in Plane Flow;


Plate Boundary Layer

6.1 Setting up the Boundary–Layer Equations

We now wish to treat flows with very small viscosity or very high Reynolds
numbers. An important contribution to the science of fluid motion was made
in 1904 by L. Prandtl (1904). Prandtl showed the manner in which the viscos-
ity has its effect for high Reynolds number flows and how the Navier–Stokes
differential equations can be simplified to yield approximate solutions for
this limiting case. We shall now derive the simplifications which arise for the
Navier–Stokes equations in the case of very small friction forces in a physi-
cally illustrative manner.
For simplicity we consider the plane flow of a fluid with very low viscosity
past a slender cylindrical body, Fig. 6.1. The velocities are of the order of
magnitude of the free stream velocity V apart from in the immediate neigh-
bourbood of the surface of the body. Both the streamline picture and the
velocity distribution are almost identical to those of inviscid flow (potential
flow). More precise investigations show, however, that the fluid on the surface
does not slip along the wall, as in the case of potential flow, but adheres to it.
There is a transition from zero velocity at the wall to the full velocity which
is present at a certain distance from the wall. This transition takes place in
a very thin layer called the boundary layer or frictional layer. We now have
to distinguish between two regions, between which there is actually no sharp
division:
1. A very thin layer right beside the body where the velocity gradient normal
to the wall ∂u/∂y is very large (boundary layer). A very small viscosity μ
can play an important role here since the viscous shear stress τ = μ ∂u/∂y
can reach considerable values.
2. The remaining region outside this layer. Here there are no large velocity
gradients, so the action of the viscosity is unimportant. In this region the
flow is frictionless and potential.
Altogether it may be said that the boundary layer is thinner the smaller
the viscosity, or, more generally, the higher the Reynolds number. It was seen
for some exact solutions of the Navier–Stokes equations in Chap. 5 that the

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2017 145


H. Schlichting (Deceased) and K. Gersten, Boundary-Layer Theory,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-52919-5_6
146 6. Boundary–Layer Equations in Plane Flow; Plate Boundary Layer

Fig. 6.1. Boundary–layer flow along a wall

boundary–layer thickness is proportional to the square root of the kinematic


viscosity:

δ∼ ν.
In the simplifications of the Navier–Stokes equations which follow, it will
be assumed that this boundary–layer thickness is very small compared to a
still unspecified linear dimension of the body l:
δl.
Thus the solutions of the boundary–layer equations have an asymptotic char-
acter for very high Reynolds numbers.
If we use the free stream velocity V and a √
characteristic dimension of the
body l as reference values, the relation δ ∼ ν leads to the dimensionally
correct representation
δ 1 Vl
∼√ with Re = . (6.1)
l Re ν
That is, the boundary–layer thickness tends to zero with increasing Reynolds
number.
We now want to establish what simplifications of the Navier–Stokes equa-
tions arise if (only) the asymptotic solutions at high Reynolds number are to
be determined. Instead of going along the path of Chap. 5, by first solving
the complete Navier–Stokes equations and then determining the asymptotic
solution for Re → ∞, the asymptotic solution will now be ascertained di-
rectly from correspondingly simplified differential equations. Consider first
the two–dimensional problem in Fig. 6.1, assuming the wall is flat. Let the
x axis lie along the wall, and the y axis be perpendicular to it. We now
want to write the continuity equation and the Navier–Stokes equations in
dimensionless form. All lengths will be referred to the characteristic length l
already introduced and all velocities to the free stream velocity V . The pres-
sure is made dimensionless with  V 2 and the time with l/V . Furthermore,
the Reynolds number, which is very large by assumption, is
V l Vl
Re = = . (6.2)
μ ν

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