Boundary layer thickness

Boundary Layer: Boundary layer thickness

and boundary layer separation

17ME309 Fluid Mechanics and Machinery

 Topic: Boundary layer
Revised Blooms Taxonomy Level
R– U– AP – AN E- C-
10% 50% 10%

Learning Objective
1 To analyze and appreciate the complexities involved in solving the
fluid flow problems.
2 To gain the basic knowledge on boundary layer concepts and
Dimensional analysis.
17ME309 Fluid Mechanics and Machinery
When a real fluid (viscous fluid) flows past a stationary solid
boundary, a layer of fluid which comes in contact with the
boundary surface, adheres to it (on account of viscosity) and
condition of no slip occurs (The no-slip condition implies that
the velocity of fluid at a solid boundary must be same as that of
boundary itself). Thus the layer of fluid which cannot slip away
from the boundary surface undergoes retardation; this retarded
layer further causes retardation for the adjacent layers of the
fluid, thereby developing a small region in the immediate vicinity
of the boundary surface in which the velocity of the flowing fluid
increases rapidly from zero at the boundary surface and
approaches the velocity of main stream. The layer adjacent to the
boundary is known as boundary layer. 4
 BOUNDARY LAYER DEFINITIONS
AND CHARACTERISTICS
Consider the boundary layer formed on a flat plate kept
parallel to flow of fluid of velocity U
The edge facing the direction of flow is called leading edge.
The rear edge is called the trailing edge.
Near the leading edge of a flat plate, the boundary layer is
wholly laminar.
For a laminar boundary layer, the velocity distribution is
parabolic.
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The edge facing the direction of flow is called leading edge.
The rear edge is called the trailing edge.
Near the leading edge of a flat plate, the boundary layer is
wholly laminar. For a laminar boundary layer, the velocity
distribution is Parabolic.

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The characteristics of a boundary layer may be summarised as
follows:
(i) δ (thickness of boundary layer) increases as distance from
leading edge x increases.
(ii) δ decreases as U increases.
(iii) δ increases as kinematic viscosity (ν) increases.

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Boundary layer thickness
The velocity within the boundary layer increases from zero at
the boundary surface to the velocity of the main stream
asymptotically. Therefore the thickness of the boundary
layer is arbitrarily defined as that distance from the
boundary in which the velocity reaches 99 per cent of the
velocity of the free stream (u = 0.99U). It is denoted by the
symbol δ.

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The commonly adopted definitions of the boundary layer thickness are:

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 Boundary layer separation
When a solid body is immersed in a flowing fluid, a thin layer
of fluid called boundary layer is formed, adjacent to the
solid body. In this thin layer of fluid, the velocity varies
from zero to free stream velocity in the direction normal to
the solid body. Along the length of the solid body, the
thickness of the boundary layer increases. The fluid layer
adjacent to the solid surface has to do work against surface
friction at the expense of kinetic energy. This loss of
kinetic energy is recovered from the immediate fluid layer
in contact with the layer adjacent to the solid surface
through momentum exchange process. 15
Thus the velocity of the layer goes on decreasing. Along the length of solid
body, at a certain point a stage may come when the boundary layer
may not be able to keep sticking to the solid body, if it cannot provide
kinetic energy to overcome the resistance offered by the solid body. In
other words, the boundary layer will be separated from the surface.
This phenomenon is called the boundary layer separation.
The point on the body at which the boundary layer is
on the verge of separation from the surface is called point of
separation

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Methods to control separation
1.Motion of solid boundary

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2. Acceleration of fluid in the boundary layer:

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3. Suction of fluid from the boundary layer:

4. Streamlining of body shapes

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Summary

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