28/12/2015

BoundaryLayerSeparation

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MomentumIntegral

BoundaryLayerSeparation
AswesawinSection7.5,whenahighReynoldsnumberfluidpassesaroundastreamlinedobstacle,
suchasaslenderplatethatisalignedwiththeflow,arelativelythinboundarylayerformonthe
obstacle'ssurface.Here,byrelativelythin,wemeanthatthetypicaltransverse(totheflow)thicknessof
thelayeris
,where isthelengthoftheobstacle(inthedirectionoftheflow),and the
Reynoldsnumberoftheexternalflow.Suppose,however,thattheobstacleisnotstreamlined:i.e.,the
surfaceoftheobstacleisnotcloselyalignedwiththestreamlinesoftheunperturbedflowpattern.Inthis
case,thetypicallyobservedbehaviorisillustratedinFigure58,whichshowstheflowpatternofahigh
Reynoldsnumberirrotationalfluidaroundacylindricalobstacle(whoseaxisisnormaltothedirectionof
theunperturbedflow).Itcanbeseenthatastagnationpoint,atwhichtheflowvelocityislocallyzero,
formsinfrontoftheobstacle.Moreover,athinboundarylayercoversthefrontsideoftheobstacle.The
thicknessofthislayerissmallestatthestagnationpoint,andincreasestowardsthebacksideofthe
obstacle.However,atsomepointonthebackside,theboundarylayerseparatesfromtheobstacle's
surfacetoformavortexfilledwakewhosetransversedimensionsaresimilartothoseoftheobstacle
itself.Thisphenomenonisknownasboundarylayerseparation.

Figure58:Boundarylayerseparation.
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Outsidetheboundarylayer,andthewake,theflowpatternisirrotationalandessentiallyinviscid.So,
fromSection5.13,thetangentialflowspeedjustoutsidetheboundarylayer(neglectinganycirculation
oftheexternalflowaroundthecylinder)is
(787)

where

istheunperturbedflowspeed,and isacylindricalcoordinatedefinedsuchthatthe

stagnationpointcorrespondsto

.Notethatthetangentialflowaccelerates(i.e.,increaseswith

increasingarclength,alongthesurfaceoftheobstacle,inthedirectionoftheflow)onthefrontsideof
theobstacle(i.e.,
),anddeceleratesonthebackside.Boundarylayerseparationisalways
observedtotakeplaceatapointonthesurfaceofanobstaclewherethereisdecelerationoftheexternal
tangentialflow.Inaddition,fromSection5.13,thepressurejustoutsidetheboundarylayer(and,hence,
onthesurfaceoftheobstacle,sincethepressureisuniformacrossthelayer)is
(788)

where

isaconstant.Notethatthetangentialpressuregradientissuchastoacceleratethetangential

flowonthefrontsideoftheobstaclethisisknownasafavorablepressuregradient.Ontheotherhand,
thepressuregradientissuchastodeceleratetheflowonthebacksidethisisknownasanadverse
pressuregradient.Boundarylayerseparationisalwaysobservedtotakeplaceatapointonthesurfaceof
anobstaclewherethepressuregradientisadverse.
Boundarylayerseparationisanimportantphysicalphenomenonbecauseitgivesrisetoagreatly
enhanceddragforceactingonanonstreamlinedobstacleplacedinahighReynoldsnumberflow.Thisis
thecasebecausethepressureinthecomparativelywidewakethatformsbehindanonstreamlined
obstacle,asaconsequenceofseparation,isrelativelylow.Tobemoreexact,inthecaseofacylindrical
obstacle,Equation(788)specifiestheexpectedpressurevariationovertheobstacle'ssurfaceinthe
absenceofseparation.Itcanbeseenthatthevariationonthefrontsideoftheobstaclemirrorsthatonthe
backside:i.e.,
.(SeeFigure59.)Inotherwords,theresultantpressureforceonthefront
sideoftheobstacleisequalandoppositetothatonthebackside,sothatthepressuredistributiongives
risetozeronetdragactingontheobstacle.Figure59illustrateshowthepressuredistributionismodified
asaconsequenceofboundarylayerseparation.Inthiscase,thepressurebetweentheseparationpointsis
significantlylessthanthatonthefrontsideoftheobstacle.Consequently,theresultantpressureforceon
thefrontsideisgreaterinmagnitudethantheoppositelydirectedforceonthebackside,givingrisetoa
significantdragactingontheobstacle.Let bethedragforceperunitwidth(paralleltotheaxisofthe
cylinder)exertedontheobstacle.Itisconvenienttoparameterizethisforceintermsofadimensionless
dragcoefficient,
(789)

where isthefluiddensity,and thetypicaltransversesizeoftheobstacle(inthepresentexample,the

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radiusofthecylinder).ThedragforcethatactsonanonstreamlinedobstacleplacedinahighReynolds
numberflow,asaconsequenceofboundarylayerseparation,isgenerallycharacterizedbyadrag
coefficientoforderunity.Theexactvalueofthecoefficientdependsstronglyontheshapeofthe
obstacle,butonlyrelativelyweaklyontheReynoldsnumberoftheflow.Consequently,thistypeofdrag
istermedformdrag,sinceitdependsprimarilyontheexternalshape,orform,oftheobstacle.Formdrag
scalesroughlyasthecrosssectionalarea(perunitwidth)ofthevortexfilledwakethatformsbehindthe
obstacle.

Figure59:Pressurevariationoversurfaceofacylindricalobstacleina
highReynoldsnumberflowbothwith(dashedcurve)andwithout(solid
curve)boundarylayerseparation.
Boundarylayerseparationisassociatedwithstrongadversepressuregradients,or,equivalently,strong
flowdeceleration,onthebacksideofanobstacleplacedinahighReynoldsnumberflow.Suchgradients
canbesignificantlyreducedbystreamliningtheobstacle:i.e.,bycloselyaligningitsbacksurfacewith
theunperturbedstreamlinesoftheexternalflow.Indeed,boundarylayerseparationcanbedelayed,or
evencompletelyprevented,onthesurfaceofasufficientlystreamlinedobstacle,therebysignificantly
decreasing,oreveneliminating,theassociatedformdrag(essentially,byreducingthecrosssectional
areaofthewake).However,eveninthelimitthattheformdragisreducedtoanegligiblelevel,thereis
stillaresidualdragactingontheobstacleduetoboundarylayerviscosity.Thistypeofdragiscalled
frictiondrag.AsisclearfromacomparisonofEquations(748)and(789),thedragcoefficientassociated
withfrictiondragis
,where istheReynoldsnumberoftheflow.Frictiondragthustendsto
zeroastheReynoldsnumbertendstoinfinity.
Thephenomenonofboundarylayerseparationallowsustoresolved'Alembert'sparadox.Recall,from
Section5.13,thatanidealizedfluidthatismodeledasinviscidandirrotationalisincapableofexertinga
dragforceonastationaryobstacle,despitethefactthatveryhighReynoldsnumber,ostensibly
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irrotational,fluidsareobservedtoexertsignificantdragforcesonstationaryobstacles.Theresolutionof
theparadoxliesintherealizationthat,insuchfluids,viscositycanonlybeneglected(andtheflowis
consequentlyonlyirrotational)intheabsenceofboundarylayerseparation.Inthiscase,theregionofthe
fluidinwhichviscosityplaysasignificantroleislocalizedtoathinboundarylayeronthesurfaceofthe
obstacle,andtheresultantfrictiondragscalesas
,and,therefore,disappearsintheinviscidlimit
(essentially,becausetheboundarylayershrinkstozerothicknessinthislimit).Ontheotherhand,ifthe
boundarylayerseparatesthenviscosityisimportantbothinathinboundarylayeronthefrontofthe
obstacle,andinawide,lowpressure,vortexfilled,wakethatformsbehindtheobstacle.Moreover,the
wakedoesnotdisappearintheinviscidlimit.Thepresenceofsignificantfluidvorticitywithinthewake
invalidatesirrotationalfluiddynamics.Consequently,thepressureonthebacksideoftheobstacleis
significantlysmallerthanthatpredictedbyirrotationalfluiddynamics.Hence,theresultantpressure
forceonthefrontsideislargerthanthatonthebackside,andasignificantdragisexertedonthe
obstacle.Thedragcoefficientassociatedwiththistypeofdragisgenerallyoforderunity,anddoesnot
tendtozeroastheReynoldsnumbertendstoinfinity.

Next:CriterionforBoundaryLayerUp:IncompressibleBoundaryLayersPrevious:VonKrmn
MomentumIntegral
RichardFitzpatrick20120427

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