scholarly journals The numerical solution of the asymptotic equations of trailing edge flow

According to Stewartson (1969, 1974) and to Messiter (1970), the flow near the trailing edge of a flat plate has a limit structure for Reynolds number Re →∞ consisting of three layers over a distance O (Re -3/8 ) from the trailing edge: the inner layer of thickness O ( Re -5/8 ) in which the usual boundary layer equations apply; an intermediate layer of thickness O ( Re -1/2 ) in which simplified inviscid equations hold, and the outer layer of thickness O ( Re -3/8 ) in which the full inviscid equations hold. These asymptotic equations have been solved numerically by means of a Cauchy-integral algorithm for the outer layer and a modified Crank-Nicholson boundary layer program for the displacement-thickness interaction between the layers. Results of the computation compare well with experimental data of Janour and with numerical solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations by Dennis & Chang (1969) and Dennis & Dunwoody (1966).

Author(s):  
Marcel Escudier

This chapter starts by introducing the concept of a boundary layer and the associated boundary-layer approximations. The laminar boundary-layer equations are then derived from the Navier-Stokes equations. The assumption of velocity-profile similarity is shown to reduce the partial differential boundary-layer equations to ordinary differential equations. The results of numerical solutions to these equations are discussed: Blasius’ equation, for zero-pressure gradient, and the Falkner-Skan equation for wedge flows. Von Kármán’s momentum-integral equation is derived and used to obtain useful results for the zero-pressure-gradient boundary layer. Pohlhausen’s quartic-profile method is then discussed, followed by the approximate method of Thwaites. The chapter concludes with a qualitative account of the way in which aerodynamic lift is generated.


1971 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 713-736 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Roger Briley

The flow in a two-dimensional laminar separation bubble is analyzed by means of finite-difference solutions to the Navier-Stokes equations for incompressible flow. The study was motivated by the need to analyze high-Reynolds-number flow fields having viscous regions in which the boundary-layer assumptions are questionable. The approach adopted in the present study is to analyze the flow in the immediate vicinity of the separation bubble using the Navier-Stokes equations. It is assumed that the resulting solutions can then be patched to the remainder of the flow field, which is analyzed using boundary-layer theory and inviscid-flow analysis. Some of the difficulties associated with patching the numerical solutions to the remainder of the flow field are discussed, and a suggestion for treating boundary conditions is made which would permit a separation bubble to be computed from the Navier-Stokes equations using boundary conditions from inviscid and boundary-layer solutions without accounting for interaction between individual flow regions. Numerical solutions are presented for separation bubbles having Reynolds numbers (based on momentum thickness) of the order of 50. In these numerical solutions, separation was found to occur without any evidence of the singular behaviour at separation found in solutions to the boundary-layer equations. The numerical solutions indicate that predictions of separation by boundary-layer theory are not reliable for this range of Reynolds number. The accuracy and validity of the numerical solutions are briefly examined. Included in this examination are comparisons between the Howarth solution of the boundary-layer equations for a linearly retarded freestream velocity and the corresponding numerical solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations for various Reynolds numbers.


1999 ◽  
Vol 387 ◽  
pp. 227-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
VALOD NOSHADI ◽  
WILHELM SCHNEIDER

Plane and axisymmetric (radial), horizontal laminar jet flows, produced by natural convection on a horizontal finite plate acting as a heat dipole, are considered at large distances from the plate. It is shown that physically acceptable self-similar solutions of the boundary-layer equations, which include buoyancy effects, exist in certain Prandtl-number regimes, i.e. 0.5<Pr[les ]1.470588 for plane, and Pr>1 for axisymmetric flow. In the plane flow case, the eigenvalues of the self-similar solutions are independent of the Prandtl number and can be determined from a momentum balance, whereas in the axisymmetric case the eigenvalues depend on the Prandtl number and are to be determined as part of the solution of the eigenvalue problem. For Prandtl numbers equal to, or smaller than, the lower limiting values of 0.5 and 1 for plane and axisymmetric flow, respectively, the far flow field is a non-buoyant jet, for which self-similar solutions of the boundary-layer equations are also provided. Furthermore it is shown that self-similar solutions of the full Navier–Stokes equations for axisymmetric flow, with the velocity varying as 1/r, exist for arbitrary values of the Prandtl number.Comparisons with finite-element solutions of the full Navier–Stokes equations show that the self-similar boundary-layer solutions are asymptotically approached as the plate Grashof number tends to infinity, whereas the self-similar solution to the full Navier–Stokes equations is applicable, for a given value of the Prandtl number, only to one particular, finite value of the Grashof number.In the Appendices second-order boundary-layer solutions are given, and uniformly valid composite expansions are constructed; asymptotic expansions for large values of the lateral coordinate are performed to study the decay of the self-similar boundary-layer flows; and the stability of the jets is investigated using transient numerical solutions of the Navier–Stokes equations.


It is shown that the boundary layer approximation to the flow of a viscous fluid past a flat plate of length l , generally valid near the plate when the Reynolds number Re is large, fails within a distance O( lRe -3/4 ) of the trailing edge. The appropriate governing equations in this neighbourhood are the full Navier- Stokes equations. On the basis of Imai (1966) these equations are linearized with respect to a uniform shear and are then completely solved by means of a Wiener-Hopf integral equation. The solution so obtained joins smoothly on to that of the boundary layer for a flat plate upstream of the trailing edge and for a wake downstream of the trailing edge. The contribution to the drag coefficient is found to be O ( Re -3/4 ) and the multiplicative constant is explicitly worked out for the linearized equations.


1990 ◽  
Vol 112 (2) ◽  
pp. 379-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. B. Fant ◽  
J. Prusa ◽  
A. P. Rothmayer

Numerical and analytical solutions are presented for multicellular flow instability and the subsequent nonlinear development in a horizontal cylindrical annulus. The Boussinesq approximated Navier–Stokes equations are simplified to Cartesian-like boundary layer equations by means of a high Rayleigh number small gap asymptotic expansion. The full numerical problem is explored for the limiting case of zero Prandtl number. At a finite scaled gap spacing, an instability sets in, which results in periodic multicellular flow. The numerical solutions are found to progress through an increasingly complex sequence of periodic solutions, culminating in a very complex unsteady solution that has features normally associated with chaotic systems.


1990 ◽  
Vol 220 ◽  
pp. 397-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura L. Pauley ◽  
Parviz Moin ◽  
William C. Reynolds

The separation of a two-dimensional laminar boundary layer under the influence of a suddenly imposed external adverse pressure gradient was studied by time-accurate numerical solutions of the Navier–Stokes equations. It was found that a strong adverse pressure gradient created periodic vortex shedding from the separation. The general features of the time-averaged results were similar to experimental results for laminar separation bubbles. Comparisons were made with the ‘steady’ separation experiments of Gaster (1966). It was found that his ‘bursting’ occurs under the same conditions as our periodic shedding, suggesting that bursting is actually periodic shedding which has been time-averaged. The Strouhal number based on the shedding frequency, local free-stream velocity, and boundary-layer momentum thickness at separation was independent of the Reynolds number and the pressure gradient. A criterion for onset of shedding was established. The shedding frequency was the same as that predicted for the most amplified linear inviscid instability of the separated shear layer.


2002 ◽  
Vol 465 ◽  
pp. 99-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. V. OBABKO ◽  
K. W. CASSEL

Numerical solutions of the unsteady Navier–Stokes equations are considered for the flow induced by a thick-core vortex convecting along a surface in a two-dimensional incompressible flow. The presence of the vortex induces an adverse streamwise pressure gradient along the surface that leads to the formation of a secondary recirculation region followed by a narrow eruption of near-wall fluid in solutions of the unsteady boundary-layer equations. The locally thickening boundary layer in the vicinity of the eruption provokes an interaction between the viscous boundary layer and the outer inviscid flow. Numerical solutions of the Navier–Stokes equations show that the interaction occurs on two distinct streamwise length scales depending upon which of three Reynolds-number regimes is being considered. At high Reynolds numbers, the spike leads to a small-scale interaction; at moderate Reynolds numbers, the flow experiences a large-scale interaction followed by the small-scale interaction due to the spike; at low Reynolds numbers, large-scale interaction occurs, but there is no spike or subsequent small-scale interaction. The large-scale interaction is found to play an essential role in determining the overall evolution of unsteady separation in the moderate-Reynolds-number regime; it accelerates the spike formation process and leads to formation of secondary recirculation regions, splitting of the primary recirculation region into multiple corotating eddies and ejections of near-wall vorticity. These eddies later merge prior to being lifted away from the surface and causing detachment of the thick-core vortex.


2008 ◽  
Vol 613 ◽  
pp. 205-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
SERGIO PIROZZOLI ◽  
MATTEO BERNARDINI ◽  
FRANCESCO GRASSO

A spatially developing supersonic boundary layer at Mach 2 is analysed by means of direct numerical simulation of the compressible Navier--Stokes equations, with the objective of quantitatively characterizing the coherent vortical structures. The study shows structural similarities with the incompressible case. In particular, the inner layer is mainly populated by quasi-streamwise vortices, while in the outer layer we observe a large variety of structures, including hairpin vortices and hairpin packets. The characteristic properties of the educed structures are found to be nearly uniform throughout the outer layer, and to be weakly affected by the local vortex orientation. In the outer layer, typical core radii vary in the range of 5–6 dissipative length scales, and the associated circulation is approximately constant, and of the order of 180 wall units. The statistical properties of the vortical structures in the outer layer are similar to those of an ensemble of non-interacting closed-loop vortices with a nearly planar head inclined at an angle of approximately 20° with respect to the wall, and with an overall size of approximately 30 dissipative length scales.


1974 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. E. Cormack ◽  
L. G. Leal ◽  
J. H. Seinfeld

Numerical solutions of the full Navier-Stokes equations are obtained for the problem of natural convection in closed cavities of small aspect ratio with differentially heated end walls. These solutions cover the parameter range Pr = 6·983, 10 ≤ Gr 2 × 104 and 0·05 [les ] A [les ] 1. A comparison with the asymptotic theory of part 1 shows excellent agreement between the analytical and numerical solutions provided that A [lsim ] 0·1 and Gr2A3Pr2 [lsim ] 105. In addition, the numerical solutions demonstrate the transition between the shallow-cavity limit of part 1 and the boundary-layer limit; A fixed, Gr → ∞.


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