A.

INTRODUCTION
1. Boundary Layer
A boundary layer is a thin layer of viscous fluid close to the solid surface of a wall in contact
with a moving stream in which (within its thickness δ) the flow velocity varies from zero at the
wall (where the flow “sticks” to the wall because of its viscosity) up to Ue at the boundary,
which approximately (within 1% error) corresponds to the free stream velocity (see Fig 1).
Strictly speaking, the value of δ is an arbitrary value because the friction force, depending on
the molecular interaction between fluid and the solid body, decreases with the distance from
the wall and becomes equal to zero at infinity.

Fig. 1 Flat Plate Boundary Layer

2. Types of Boundary Layer:

Laminar boundary layers can be loosely classified according to their structure and the
circumstances under which they are created. The thin shear layer which develops on an
oscillating body is an example of a Stokes boundary layer, while the Blasius boundary layer
refers to the well-known similarity solution near an attached flat plate held in an oncoming
unidirectional flow and Falkner–Skan boundary layer, a generalization of Blasius profile. When
a fluid rotates and viscous forces are balanced by the Coriolis effect (rather than convective
inertia), an Ekman layer forms. In the theory of heat transfer, a thermal boundary layer occurs.
A surface can have multiple types of boundary layer simultaneously.

The viscous nature of airflow reduces the local velocities on a surface and is responsible for
skin friction. The layer of air over the wing's surface that is slowed down or stopped by
viscosity, is the boundary layer. There are two different types of boundary layer flow: laminar
and turbulent.

2.1. Laminar boundary layer flow

The laminar boundary is a very smooth flow, while the turbulent boundary layer contains swirls
or "eddies." The laminar flow creates less skin friction drag than the turbulent flow, but is less
stable. Boundary layer flow over a wing surface begins as a smooth laminar flow. As the flow
continues back from the leading edge, the laminar boundary layer increases in thickness.
 2.2. Turbulent boundary layer flow

At some distance back from the leading edge, the smooth laminar flow breaks down and
transitions to a turbulent flow. From a drag standpoint, it is advisable to have the transition
from laminar to turbulent flow as far aft on the wing as possible, or have a large amount of the
wing surface within the laminar portion of the boundary layer. The low energy laminar flow,
however, tends to break down more suddenly than the turbulent layer.

Fig. 2 Types of Boundary Layer flow.

3. Blasius Boundary Layer

A Blasius boundary layer describes the steady two-dimensional laminar boundary layer that forms on
a semi-infinite plate which is held parallel to a constant unidirectional flow. Falkner and Skan later
generalized Blasius' solution to wedge flow (Falkner–Skan boundary layer), i.e. flows in which the plate
is not parallel to the flow.