The Laminar Boundary Layer on a Hot Cylinder Fixed in a Fluctuating Stream

Abstract

The equations for nonsteady, two-dimensional low-speed compressible flow in the laminar boundary layer are solved approximately by use of the Pohlhausen technique with the assumption of quartic profiles for the velocity and temperature. The external flow considered is of the form of a steady basic velocity with a superimposed small amplitude oscillation such as may arise, for example, when a sound wave is present in a uniform incident stream. The analysis is then applicable to the case of a hot cylinder fixed in such a stream. Terms of the order of the incident stream Mach number are neglected in the expressions for external flow quantities (whereas the low-speed boundary-layer equations involve errors of the order of only the square of this Mach number). Two special cases are worked out—the flow over a flat plate for which there is fair agreement with available exact calculations, and the flow over a circular cylinder.