Laminar Boundary Layers and Their Separation From Curved Surfaces

Abstract

The equation of motion in a laminar boundary layer on curved surfaces has been developed from the Navier-Stokes equations. After an order-of-magnitude analysis terms of highest and next order have been retained and a single ordinary differential equation of motion derived by the method of “similar solutions.” An iteration procedure has been used to determine effects of displacement thickness and surface curvature up to and including separation. The equation of motion has been solved by a digital computer using the Runge-Kutta step-by-step integration technique.