13/10/2019 4 Runge-Kutta solution

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4 Runge-Kutta solution
In order to solve O.D.E’s such as the Blasius equation (5) we often need to resort to computer methods. Let
us start by thinking about what an O.D.E actually represents. A first order O.D.E is a statement that the
gradient of y, dy/dx, takes some value or function. We can write this as

Given a particular starting point - some value of y corresponding to a given value of x - this equation
specifies a particular curve in the x - y plane. A typical such solution is shown in figure 3.

Figure 3: Typical 1st order O.D.E.

We could trace the curve defined by this O.D.E - i.e. solve the equation - by starting at this point and
tracing forwards/backwards in steps of size h

In fact this is the basis for all numerical methods for solving O.D.E’s. Used like this, it is referred to as
Euler’s method. Symbolically, we are writing the derivative as

which we can rewrite to find point yn+1 from point yn

(6)
Obviously the smaller the step h being used, the more accurate the resulting solution will be. In fact, a more
exact analysis shows that equation 6 is missing a term of the form h2. We therefore say that the scheme is
first order accurate. However using smaller steps h also increases the computational cost of the calculation,
and it may be better to try to find more accurate schemes. It is possible to combine Euler steps of various
sizes in a scheme in such a way as to produce a more accurate final scheme. The Runge-Kutta family of
numerical schemes is constructed in this way. To solve the Blasius equation we will make use of the 4th
order Runge-Kutta method, so called because it is 4th order accurate (the missing terms in the scheme are of
the form h5). The 4th order Runge-Kutta method is available in MathCad in the form of a function call
rkfixed. You will make use of this in Problem Sheet 3153-1 to solve the Blasius problem.

Of course, in this case we can solve the problem analytically. The solution is

4.1 Higher order O.D.E’s

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13/10/2019 4 Runge-Kutta solution

The Blasius equation is a 3rd order O.D.E, and the discussion above talked about 1st order O.D.E’s. It is
possible to use Runge-Kutta for higher order O.D.E’s, but we must first manipulate the equation we want to
solve. For instance, suppose we want to solve the equation

For this equation, define a new variable

Using this variable

and we can write the 2nd order ODE as 2 1st order equations :

If we define a vector

then we could write these as

which is in the same form as before - a 1st order O.D.E, but involving a vector of y values.

For the Blasius equation,

if we write

we solve the equations

Of course, we still need to find the boundary conditions in order to be able to solve these equations. We note
that at the plate y = 0 the velocity is zero ux = 0, whilst a long way from the plate the flow has to match the
undisturbed flow ux U :

Boundary 1
At the plate y = 0, i.e. = 0, ux = 0 i.e. f' = 0, f = 0.
Boundary 2
A long way from the plate, i.e. y , i.e. , ux U , i.e. f' 1

This gives us a sufficient number of boundary conditions, but they are in two different locations. The
rkfixed routine in MathCad requires you to specify values for Y 0, Y 1 and Y 2 for a specific value of X, and
will return the solution for other values of X starting at this point. The only way to find the solution in this
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13/10/2019 4 Runge-Kutta solution

case is to use a shooting method. We know that at X = 0, Y 0 = Y 1 = 0. Guess a value of Y 2 at this point and
then adjust it until the second boundary condition is satisfied.

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