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9-3

LAMINAR FLAT-PLATE BOUNDARY LAYER: EXACT SOLUTION

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LAMINAR FLAT-PLATE BOUNDARY LAYER: EXACT SOLUTION

The solution for the laminar boundary layer on a horizontal flat plate was obtained by
Prandtls student H. Blasius [2] in 1908. For two-dimensional, steady, incompressible
flow with zero pressure gradient, the governing equations of motion (Eqs. 5.27)
reduce to [3]
@u @v

0
@x
@y
u

9:3

@u
@u
@2u
v
v 2
@x
@y
@y

9:4

with boundary conditions

at y 0,

u 0,

v0

at y 1,

u U,

@u
0
@y

9:5

Equations 9.3 and 9.4, with boundary conditions Eq. 9.5 are a set of nonlinear,
coupled, partial differential equations for the unknown velocity field u and v. To solve
them, Blasius reasoned that the velocity profile, u/U, should be similar for all values
of x when plotted versus a nondimensional distance from the wall; the boundary-layer
thickness, d, was a natural choice for nondimensionalizing the distance from the wall.
Thus the solution is of the form
u
g Z
U

Z!

where

y
d

p
Based on the solution of Stokes [4], Blasius reasoned that d ! nx/U and set
r
U
Zy
nx

9:6

9:7

We now introduce the stream function, c, where

u

@c
@y

and

@c
@x

5:4

satisfies the continuity equation (Eq. 9.3) identically. Substituting for u and v into
Eq. 9.4 reduces the equation to one in which c is the single dependent variable.
Defining a dimensionless stream function as
c
f Z p
nxU

9:8

makes f (Z) the dependent variable and Z the independent variable in Eq. 9.4. With c defined by Eq. 9.8 and Z defined by Eq. 9.7, we can evaluate each of the terms in Eq. 9.4.
The velocity components are given by
r
@c @c @Z p df U
df
u

nxU
U
9:9
@y
@Z @y
dZ nx
dZ
and
r 
r 




p @f
p df
@c
1 nU
1 1
1 nU
nxU

f nxU
Z

f
v
@x
@x 2
x
dZ
2 x
2
x

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CHAPTER 9 / EXTERNAL INCOMPRESSIBLE VISCOUS FLOW

or
1
v
2

r

nU df
f
Z
x
dZ

9:10

By differentiating the velocity components, it also can be shown that

@u
U d2 f
Z 2
@x
2x dZ
p d2 f
@u
U U/nx 2
@y
dZ
and
@ 2 u U 2 d3 f

@y2
nx dZ3
Substituting these expressions into Eq. 9.4, we obtain
2

d3 f
d2f

f
0
dZ3
dZ2

9:11

with boundary conditions:

at Z 0,
at Z ! 1,

df
0
dZ
df
1
dZ

9:12

The second-order partial differential equations governing the growth of the laminar
boundary layer on a flat plate (Eqs. 9.3 and 9.4) have been transformed to a nonlinear,
third-order ordinary differential equation (Eq. 9.11) with boundary conditions given
by Eq. 9.12. It is not possible to solve Eq. 9.11 in closed form; Blasius solved it using
a power series expansion about Z 0 matched to an asymptotic expansion for Z ? ?.
The same equation later was solved more preciselyagain using numerical methods
by Howarth [5], who reported results to 5 decimal places. The numerical values of f,
df/dZ, and d 2f/dZ2 in Table 9.1 were calculated with a personal computer using 4th-order
Runge-Kutta numerical integration.
The velocity profile is obtained in dimensionless form by plotting u/U versus Z,
using values from Table 9.1. The resulting profile is sketched in Fig. 9.3b. Velocity
profiles measured experimentally are in excellent agreement with the analytical solution. Profiles from all locations on a flat plate are similar; they collapse to a single
profile when plotted in nondimensional coordinates.
From Table 9.1, we see that at Z 5.0, u/U 0.992. With the boundary-layer
thickness, d, defined as the value of y for which u/U 0.99, Eq. 9.7 gives
5:0
5:0x
d  p p
Rex
U/nx
The wall shear stress may be expressed as


p d2 f
@u
mU U/nx 2
tw m
@y y0
dZ Z0

9:13

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LAMINAR FLAT-PLATE BOUNDARY LAYER: EXACT SOLUTION

W-21

TABLE 9.1 The Function f (Z) for the Laminar Boundary Layer
along a Flat Plate at Zero Incidence
hy

r
U
nx

0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0
5.5
6.0
6.5
7.0
7.5
8.0

0
0.0415
0.1656
0.3701
0.6500
0.9963
1.3968
1.8377
2.3057
2.7901
3.2833
3.7806
4.2796
4.7793
5.2792
5.7792
6.2792

u
U

0
0.1659
0.3298
0.4868
0.6298
0.7513
0.8460
0.9130
0.9555
0.9795
0.9915
0.9969
0.9990
0.9997
0.9999
1.0000
1.0000

f@

0.3321
0.3309
0.3230
0.3026
0.2668
0.2174
0.1614
0.1078
0.0642
0.0340
0.0159
0.0066
0.0024
0.0008
0.0002
0.0001
0.0000

Then
tw 0:332U

p 0:332rU 2
rm U/x p
Rex

9:14

and the wall shear stress coefficient, Cf, is given by

Cf

tw
1
2
2 rU

0:664
p
Rex

9:15

Each of the results for boundary-layer thickness, d, wall shear stress, tw, and skin
friction coefficient, Cf, Eqs. 9.13 through 9.15, depends on the length Reynolds number, Rex, to the one-half power. The boundary-layer thickness increases as x1/2, and
the wall shear stress and skin friction coefficient vary as 1/x1/2. These results characterize the behavior of the laminar boundary layer on a flat plate.

EXAMPLE 9.2 Laminar Boundary Layer on a Flat Plate: Exact Solution

Use the numerical results presented in Table 9.1 to evaluate the following quantities for laminar boundary-layer
flow on a flat plate:
(a) d*/d (for Z 5 and as Z ? ?).
(b) v/U at the boundary-layer edge.
(c) Ratio of the slope of a streamline at the boundary-layer edge to the slope of d versus x.
GIVEN:

Numerical solution for laminar flat-plate boundary layer, Table 9.1.

FIND: (a) d*/d (for Z 5 and as Z ? ?).

(b) v/U at boundary-layer edge.
(c) Ratio of the slope of a streamline at the boundary-layer edge to the slope of d versus x.

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CHAPTER 9 / EXTERNAL INCOMPRESSIBLE VISCOUS FLOW

SOLUTION:
The displacement thickness is defined by Eq. 9.1 as
d*

1

Z
0



Z d
u
u
dy 
dy
1
U
U
0

In order to use the Blasius exact solution to evaluate thispintegral,

we need
to convert it from
one involving u and y to one

p
p
involving f ( u/U) and Z variables. From Eq. 9.7, Z y U/nx, so y Z nx/U and dy dZ nx/U
Thus,
r
r Z Zmax
Z Zmax
nx
nx
d*
dZ
1 f
1 f dZ
1
U
U 0
0
Note: Corresponding to the upper limit on y in Eq. 9.1, Zmax ?, or Zmax & 5.
From Eq. 9.13,
5
d  p
U/nx
so if we divide each side of Eq. 1 by each side of Eq. 9.13, we obtain (with f df/dZ)


Z
d* 1 Zmax
df
dZ

1
d
5 0
dZ
Integrating gives
d*
1
Z
Z f Z0max
d
5
Evaluating at Zmax 5, we obtain
d* 1
5:0 3:2833 0:343
d
5

d*
Z 5
d

The quantity Z f (Z) becomes constant for Z 7. Evaluating at Zmax 8 gives

d*
1
8:0 6:2792 0:344
5
d
*
is 0.24 percent larger than d*Z!5 .
Thus, dZ!1
From Eq. 9.10,
r

1 nU df
v
Z
f ,
2
x
dZ

so

v
1

U
2

d*
Z ! 1
d




r
n
df
1
df
p

Z
Z
f
f
Ux
dZ
2 Rex
dZ

Evaluating at the boundary-layer edge (Z 5), we obtain

v
1
0:837
0:84
p 50:9915 3:2833 p  p
U
2 Rex
Rex
Rex

Thus v is only 0.84 percent of U at Rex 104, and only about 0.12 percent of U at Rex 5 105.
The slope of a streamline at the boundary-layer edge is

dy
v
v
0:84
 p
dx streamline u
U
Rex
The slope of the boundary-layer edge may be obtained from Eq. 9.13,
r
5
nx
d  p 5
U
U/nx

v
Z 5
U

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LAMINAR FLAT-PLATE BOUNDARY LAYER: EXACT SOLUTION

W-23

so
dd
5
dx

r
r
n 1 1/2
n
2:5
p
x
2:5
U2
Ux
Rex

Thus,
dy
dx

streamline

0:84 dd
dd
0:336
2:5 dx
dx

dy
dx


streamline

This result indicates that the slope of the streamlines is about 13 of the slope of the boundary layer edgethe streamlines
penetrate the boundary layer, as sketched below:
U

U
u

This problem illustrates use of numerical data from the Blasius solution to
obtain other information on a flat plate laminar boundary layer, including
the result that the edge of the boundary layer is not a streamline.