7–2 PARALLEL FLOW OVER FLAT PLATES

Consider the parallel flow of a fluid over a flat plate of length L in the flow direction,
as shown in Figure 7–6. The x-coordinate is measured along the plate
surface from the leading edge in the direction of the flow. The fluid approaches
the plate in the x-direction with uniform upstream velocity _ and
temperature T_. The flow in the velocity boundary layer starts out as laminar,
but if the plate is sufficiently long, the flow will become turbulent at a distance
xcr from the leading edge where the Reynolds number reaches its critical
value for transition.
The transition from laminar to turbulent flow depends on the surface geometry,
surface roughness, upstream velocity, surface temperature, and the type
of fluid, among other things, and is best characterized by the Reynolds number.
The Reynolds number at a distance x from the leading edge of a flat plate
is expressed as

Note that the value of the Reynolds number varies for a flat plate along the
flow, reaching ReL _ _L /v at the end of the plate.
For flow over a flat plate, transition from laminar to turbulent is usually
taken to occur at the critical Reynolds number of

Flow separation occurs at about _ _ 80_ (measured from the stagnation

point) when the boundary layer is laminar and at about _ _ 140_ when it is
turbulent (Fig. 7–18). The delay of separation in turbulent flow is caused by
the rapid fluctuations of the fluid in the transverse direction, which enables the
turbulent boundary layer to travel further along the surface before separation
occurs, resulting in a narrower wake and a smaller pressure drag. In the range
of Reynolds numbers where the flow changes from laminar to turbulent, even
the drag force FD decreases as the velocity (and thus Reynolds number) increases.
This results in a sudden decrease in drag of a flying body and instabilities
in flight.

Effect of Surface Roughness

We mentioned earlier that surface roughness, in general, increases the drag
coefficient in turbulent flow. This is especially the case for streamlined bodies.
For blunt bodies such as a circular cylinder or sphere, however, an increase in
the surface roughness may actually decrease the drag coefficient, as shown in
Figure 7–19 for a sphere. This is done by tripping the flow into turbulence at
a lower Reynolds number, and thus causing the fluid to close in behind the
body, narrowing the wake and reducing pressure drag considerably. This
results in a much smaller drag coefficient and thus drag force for a roughsurfaced
cylinder or sphere in a certain range of Reynolds number compared
to a smooth one of identical size at the same velocity. At Re _ 105, for example,
CD _ 0.1 for a rough sphere with _/D _ 0.0015, whereas CD _ 0.5 for
a smooth one. Therefore, the drag coefficient in this case is reduced by a factor
of 5 by simply roughening the surface. Note, however, that at Re _ 106,
CD _ 0.4 for the rough sphere while CD _ 0.1 for the smooth one. Obviously,
roughening the sphere in this case will increase the drag by a factor of 4
where Ti and Te are the mean fluid temperatures at the inlet and exit of the
tube, respectively, and Q
·
is the rate of heat transfer to or from the fluid. Note
that the temperature of a fluid flowing in a tube remains constant in the absence
of any energy interactions through the wall of the tube.
The thermal conditions at the surface can usually be approximated with
reasonable accuracy to be constant surface temperature (Ts _ constant) or
constant surface heat flux (q ·
s _ constant). For example, the constant surface temperature condition is realized

when a phase change process such as boiling or condensation occurs at the outer
surface of a tube. The constant surface heat flux condition is realized when the tube
is subjected to radiation or electric resistance heating uniformly from all directions.
Surface heat flux is expressed as