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REPORT NO. 562

AIR FLOW IN THE BOUNDARY LAYER NEAR A PLATE “

By HUGHL. DItYDEN

SUMMARY

The publiahd data on the distribution of epeed neur a parallel to the flow, our knowledge is far from complete.
thin @ plda with 8h4Lrpkuding edge pluced paral+!dto Studies of this simplified case are much needed to dis-
tti jbo (8kinfriction plute) are reviewed and the reeult8 cover the basic laws of boundmy-layer flow and thereby
of 8ome adddw mea$uremen.t8are o?e8cribed. Th.e8e to prepare the way for a better understanding of the
experiment were c-amid out at the Nati.onul Bwreau of flow mechanism in the many oases of interkst to the
Standur& with the cooperation and jinuncial a.wn%ancedesigner.
of the Naiwnal Ad.oisoqJCommMee forAeronuw5ce for The concept of the boundary layer and the equations
the purpo8e of 8tudying the bti pkomenu Ofbounduq/- describing the laminar flow within it were announced by
layerfbw under simple conditti. Prandtl in 1904 (reference 1). Four years later Blagiua
Wlwn the diatribtiion of meun speed i8 meaeured in a (reference 2) gave the solution of these equations for the
8&eamwithmd pressure gradient, it is found thut the$OW skin-friction plate. A general acceptance of the bound-
for some distance from the leuding edge correqxmds to ary-layer concopt was delayed for 20 yeara until experi-
thd derioed th+mreticallyby Blaeiuxfrom Prandtl’s equa- mental technique advanced to the point where the inner
twnafor laminurjlow. At a dejinite value of the Reyn- structure of the boundary layer could be explored in
oklx Numberformed from the dbtance to the leading edge detail. The pioneer mensurernents were made by
and tlu speed of the stream at a ponderable didance jrom Burgers and his assistant, van der Hegge Zijnen, at
the plate, the j%w departejrom the Blatiw dtitrilwtion Delft in 1924 (reference 3) with the aid of a hohwire’
and a$er a long trandion region hm the characttitics anemometer. Further measurements with pitot tubes
of juUy developed turbulent J%MO, hereinqihr designated were made a few years later by Hansen (reference 4)
%o?@ing$ow.” The Reynol& Number d which tram”- and by EMs (reference 5) at Aachen. Later develop-
twn occurs is ajunction of tb initial turbulence oj the air ments have shown that the comparatively good sgree-
streum, deareming ax the turbulence G ~.ncreased. ment between the results at Dolft and Aachen was
Small pressure gradients in the azr 8tream greatly somewhat fortuitous. It seemed worth while to make
change the cnlical Reynold8 Number jor a D“oen turbu- some further measurements in an air stream of consid-
lence. erably smaller turbulence and, in view of the develop-
From measurementsoj theamplitudeoj theu-$uctuation ment of equipment for measuring the velocity fluctuat-
of speed it m jound that the laminar re~”on ezhibit8 ions parallel to the mean direction of flow, to study
comparattiely largeftuctuatwn.e induced by the turbukact the fluctuations m well as the mean speed.
Oj the gewd J?Ow. The laminar and eddying regicm The primary interest in this work is in the field of
cannot be distinguished on the bmie of the magniiwde ?{ flow (distribution of speed in the vicini@- of the plate),
the sped$uctuution, but the principal jhctuatiow in tlu nnd not in the skin friction itself, which is more easily
edd~yingregion are oj highfreqwncy than those oc~”ng studied by force measurements. Th. von Khrm6n has
in the laminar region. recently (reference 6) given a review of the data on
skin friction.
INTRODUCTION
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
It is becoming incremingly evident that the solution
of problems of great importance to aircraft designe~. ne author wishes to acknowledge the xwisixmce of
especially the influence of Reynolds Number or scale A. M. Kuethe, W. C. Mock, Jr., and S. S. West in
cflcct nnd the influence of initial turbulence, demands a connection with the experimental program and the
more complete knowledge of the flow nom sm-faces, reduction of observations; of W. H. Boyd in the design
that is, in boundary layers. Even in the simple case and construction of the traversing equipment; and of
of boundmy-layer flow near n skin-friction plate, i. e., E. R. Frisby in the computation of the effect of the
n thin flat plate of great length nnd, width placed “simplified turbulence.”
339
 .-
340 REPORTNO. 562 NATIONALADVISORYCOMWTI’EQFOR AERONAU’MCS
PREVIOUS EXPERIMENTAL WORK
The essential features of the flow in the boundaq
layer of a skin-friction plate may be described by &
consideration of the measurements of Burgera and var
der Hegge Zijnen (ref&nce 3). The remits are pre
sented in the d~ertation of van der Hegge Zijne~ iI
the form of numerous tables and curves giving th(
observed speeds at several hundred points, whose z anc
y coordinates with respect to the leading edge of th(
plate are tabulated, for five speeds of the approach@
air stream. The original dissertation should be con-
sulted for detailed rewdta. Only the general featunx
can be discussed here.
Dimensional amdysis enables one to devise a method
of representation that gives a general view of the hun-
dreds of measurements. The speed u at. any point
(z, y) at distance z from the leading edge and at dis-
tance y from the plate is a function of &e speed U(
of the approaching air stream, of the density P and
the viscosity v of the air, and of z and y. By the
principle9 of dimensional analysis
%=-(%%9
where v is the kinem&c v&cosity ~jp. Th’e independent
(1)
variables may be considered as z-Reynolds Number
and y-Reynolds Number, since a nondimensional
product obtained by multiplying —
UOby a linear dimen-
aion is ordinarily called a ‘Re~volds Number.” If
the foregoing factors are the only ones detwmhing the
flow, the flow can be pictured by a three-dimensional
model or, more conveniently, by a contour diagram of
the three-dimensional model. ‘I& representation is
entirely independent of any them-g of the flow and its
validity rests only on the completeness of the list of
controlling quantities.
A contour diaggam of this type for the measurements
of van der Hegge Zijnen is given in figure 1, The
con@m are for values of u/ZJoin steps of 0.1, the corre-
sponding z and y being found by interpolation in the
original tables. For convenience, the scale of y-Reynolds
Number has been magnided 200 times. If one wishes to
thii in terms of z and y, the numbers along the abscis-
sas represent for an air speed of 200 feet per second dis-
tances in inches, while each square klong the ordinates
represents one one-thousandth of an inch. Or for an
air speed of 20 feet per second, the numbers rdongthe
abscissas are tens of inches and each square along the
ordinates is one one-hundredth of an inch.
The diaggam contains data for five speeds and, in
general, the remdtarqe very consistent. The deviations
correspond to about 0.02 in ujuo or 0.005 inch on the
averafgein y. When examined on a large scale there
are certain systematic differences between the results at
d.i.iferentspeeds, which are to be ascribed to the @
fluence of a slight pressure gradient in the air stream in
which the measurements were made.
Near the leading edge the contour lines are approxi-
mately parabolic in shape and correspond approxi-
mately to the theoretical result of Blasius for laminar
flow (cf. theoretical treatment). For this reason, the
flow in this part of the field is labeled “laminar.”
At an z-Reynolds Number of about 300,000, the
COritmmS for small values of W/UOapproach the axis of
abscisms, indicating an increasing speed along the plate
while the contours for large values bend away from the
axis, indicating a rapid thickenhg of the layer. The
process continues over the range from 300,000 to
about 500,000, a region usually designated as the
“transition” region.
Thexe follows a diflerent type of speed distribution
which resembles very closely that found in eddying
(fully developed turbulent) flow in pipes. In the part
marked “eddying layer,” there is at any z-Reynolds
Number,” a logarithmic relation between u and the
y-ReynoMs Number, often approximated by a power
law. The relations are different near the wall, a region
commonly termed the “laminar sublayer” because the
dishibution resembles that in the laminar layer. It
should be noted that the laminar sublayer accounts for
only a small part of the thickness of the layer but for
two-thirds of the fall in speed.
The contour fo ~= 1 is not shown, for the reason
‘%0
that u approaches VO asymptotically. Vmious un-
ambiguous procedures can be used to define tho “thick-
ness” of the layer of fluid ailected by the presence of
the plate. We may perhaps think of the distribution
ES approximated by some speci.6c matlmnatical ex-
pre.ss30n,and the thicbess 6 as the value of y which,
Substitutedin that expression, gives Z= Vo. Or 6 may
be taken as the value of y, for which u=O.99 Z70or
0.995 ZLO or some other convenient value. The ~?lis-
placement thickness” C$ * defined as
Som(+’” b
>ften the most convenient measure of the thickness.
Burgers and van der Hegge Zijnen made another
@@&xmt observation, namely, that the presence of
3trong fluctuations in the flow of air approaching the
plate moved the transition to an z-Reynolds Number
>f about 85,000. The fluctuations were produced by
L square-mwh -wire screen immediately ahead of the
?Iata, the wiro diameter being 0.08 cm and the mesh
m.iug 0.4 cm.
In air streams, especially those produced by artificial
neans in wind tunnels, the motion is never absolutely
~teady, and there are ahvays present small ripples or
Iuctuations &at usually do not mceod a few percent
)f the average speed. It is difhcult to believe that the
xesence of these fluctuations, usuaUy of frequencies
)f the order of 20 to perhaps 1,000 per second, could
]Iay any part in dctc . . g the nature of the flow
wound an object placed in the stream. Yet it has
>een experimentally found that th~e fluctuations
 AIR FLOW IN TBE BOUNDARYLAYER NEAR A PLATE 341
exert a comparatively large influence in many cases. measurementsof heat transfer. The results are similar
The basic effect in all these cases is believed to be the to those of Hansen and were presumably made in the
effect on the transition from Iaminsx to eddying flow mme wind tmonel. Transition occurred at an z-
in the boundary layer. Reynolds Number of about 150,000 to 200,000.
No method by which the initial turbulence could be
T33iiORE’i’ICAL TREATMENT
numerically evaluai%d was lmown in 1924 and tbe
methods are st@ in process of development. No com- Laminar flow.—The equations given by Prand~ for
pletely satisfactory method can be developed until a the steady flow of an incompressible fluid in a thin
satisfactory theory of the effect of turbulence is avail- boundary layer along a two-dimensional plane surface
able. It is now possible to measure directly (refeqmce we as follows: .’
7) the mean fluctuation of the speed at any point (2)
with. time by means of a hotmire anemometer, with a
wire of small diameter, an amplifier, an electrical neti
(3)
work to compensate for the lag of the wire, and an
alternating current milliammeter. The speed fluctua-
(4)
tion is converted into an alternating electric ctient
whose inter.@y is measured. The ttibulence may whereu is the component of the velocity parallel to the
then be defin&l as the ratio of the average fluctuation wrface, o the normal ccmponcmt, z the distance meas-
to the mean speed and is usually expressed as a per- ured ajong the surface, y the distance measured normal
centage. Such a method was used in the experiments to the surface, v the kinematic viscosity, and p the
described in this paper. pressure. The boundary conditions are: (1) M the
Because of certain small discrepancies between the 3urface, u=o=O; (2) at a great distance u= Z7, the
experimental results of van der Hegge Zijnen in the speed in the potential flow. By (3) the pressure is
region of laminar flow near the leading edge and the independent of y and hence equal to that in the poten-
theory of Bltius, the measurements were repeated by tial flow. By Bernoulli’s theorem p+jp~ is constant
M. Hansen at Aachen (reference 4), using small pitot
tubm. In general appearance, a contour diagram of rmdhence, ~=pdf!.
the results would resemble figure 1. Tbe data of Blasius discussed the case where U, the speed at a
Hansen are not given in sticient detail to permit the considerable distance from the plate, is constant, i. e.,
preparation of an accurate contour diagram. The
transition occurred at nearly, the same value of the
z-Reynolds Number, a fact which the experinmuts in will be designated L’O.
the prwnt paper show to be a coincidence. The
By virtue of equation (4), a stream function i may
principal differences between the tivo sete of measnr~
be introduced, such that
ments at Delft and Aachen are: (1) the Aachen results
——— Z)* i3#
agree very well with the Blasius theory, whereas the u— (5)
Delft results show small discrepancies; and (2) when the * ‘ ‘=-a
speed distribution in the eddying region is approxi- Equation (2) for
becomw C@=o
mated by a power law, the exponent is about 1/5 in dx
the Aachen experimen~ as compared with 1/7 in the
(6)
Delft experiments.
Hansen showed that the Delft experiments were Introducing new variables 1Z and X defined by
made in an air stream in which the static pressure
decreased along the plate and that therefore the experi- (7)
ments could not be expected to check the theory of
Blasius, which mmrned a constant static pressure along in which a is a numerical constant whose significance
the plate. An approximate allowance for the effect 01 and value will be detcnhi.ned later, equation (6)
the prewure gradient brought the Delft experimental becomes
results into agreement with the Blasius theory. gj+zg=o (8)
Hansen made some studies of the effect of the shape
of the leac@ edge of the plate and of the roughness oi v—0,it may be shown from
Setting ~ = ~- and ~=y
the surface. A poorly shaped leading edge sets up o d Vx
turbulence which has an effect similar to that oi
incrued turbulence in the air stream. For rough
(9)
pld.es, the flow waa eddying at all points investigated,
~li6s (reference 5) also made measurements of the IIII viewof the momcomplotadedvationsPRbllsbwle.kwha% for example,
speed distribution near a plate in connection with refwonce z onlytheprincipalstepsin themetbcdofmlutionwiUbe mtlined.
—.

342 REPORTNO. 562 NATIONALADVISORYCOMMITTEEFOR AERONAUTICS

Z%
(lo) andq are readily computed. These quantities are

also given in tible I.

The boundary conditions, U=ZI=O at the surface and It is significant that ,the complete solution can bo
u= UOfor large values of y become in the new variables represented by a single curve of Z plotted against ~.
Thus the speed distributions at various values of z me
similar, the same speed occurring at values of y propor-
tional to the square root of &o” This similarity of the
In the solution of equation (8) it is convenient to
begin the solution at the surface. By the introduction speed distributions is the physical expression of tho
11,000 3
/

Io,ooo

3000

#
8/700
-
0
> >E ddying Ioyer

~ooo— — — — —

0
6,000
@
v Lamvho r 7irofb3
‘ii’ion

gooo
0
+000
0

3,000 w x

.7 A d
x :4
2,000 d%
x
P ~

ax
-z
FIGURE
L—Dlskik@on
ofmean - new sHn-frfdonPtata.Mmsomm antimadeby vanderHeg@Zl@JLs fgthedlstemmmwti alongthepfotefmm the
lmdfng* o thedlstmcefromthop18* UO the@of thefrmsheam,r theMnematiovisccdtg.The cantom%am mntoma of awol mesms@, the
numkaon eachcontourbeingthetori-wpndfngvalueof 0/U~wherea istheIcdx

reduction of the partial differential equation to a total

of the numerical constant a, the due
may be assumed equal to 1, this boundary condition
temporarily replac~c condition (11). When the solu-
tion has been obtained, a may then be chosen to satisfy
(11). It maybe noted that a dow not appear in (8).
Equation (8) may be solved numerically by the
Runge-Kutta method (reference 8). The results are
given in table I. The value of a is found to be 1.328238.
dii
From this value and equations (9) ~d (10), ?, % ~
of gz at X=o
difkrential equation. On the representation of the
Iaminar speed distribution by a contour diagram similar
to iigure 1, it is readily seen that a constant value of ~
corresponding to a given ~ is indicated by a constant
value of the ratio of the y-Reynolds Number to the
square root of the z-Reynolds Number, which mtio
numerically equals J. Hence the contours Are parrL-
bolas. The values of 3 at even values of u for the
theoretical laminar distribution are given in the follow-
~ table:
 AIR FLOW IN T~ BOUNDARYLAYER NDAR A PLATE
0.1 0.301 0.6
.!4 .W3 .7 i!%
.3 2729
.4 i!% :: 3.3M
.6 LM4
The equations of the contour hnes are
(12) the preceding section as the basic flow are given in
The “displacement thiclmess” 6“ is readily computed those values of Reynolds Number and wave length for
from table I to be 1.7207 ~, and hence the 6* for wave lengths and Reynolds Numbers outside that
J
Reynolds Number is 1.7207 tim~ the square root of reggon are damped. The displacement thickness 6“ is
the z-Reynolds Number.
When &pressuregradient is present so th~t ~ is not
zero, the sirnil~~ of the speed distributions disap-
pears except in special cases, and the partial differ-
ential equation must be solved. Vaxious approximate
methods have been proposed, for example, those
described in references 9, 10, 11, and 12. For small
pressure gradients with the pressure decreasing down-
stream, the computed effect on the contour diagram
representation is to move the contoum closer to the
axis of abscissa, i. e., to decrease the rate of thickening
of the boundary layer. The; or ~ curve is n~t inde-
pendent of x; in general ~ increases with y more
rapidly than for the Blaaius case and approaches the
asymptote to a given approximation at a smaller value
of ~. The departure from the Blasius curve increases
with increasing z. The effect of a small gradient is
surprisingly large.a The references cited may be
consulted for a detailed discussion.
Transition,-The physical factors that determine the
transition from laminar to eddying flow are not clearly
understood. The principal theoretical developments
have proceeded from the assumption that the origin of
eddying flow is to be sought in the instabili~ of the
lamioar flow under certain circumstance. The ditE-
cult mathematical computations have been made by
Tollmien (reference 13) and Scld.ichting (reference 14)
of the GtMngen group for the following idealized case.
A steady two-dimensional laminar flow is aasumed in
which the velocity depends only on the coordinate
normal to the direction of flow. Small disturbances
are superposed on this basic flo~ in the form of waves
propagated in the direction of flow. These disturb-
ances are assumed to satisfy the Navier-Stokes equw
tions and the usual boundary conditions. It is then
determined whether waves of any given frequency are
damped or amplified.
In the computation it is found necessq, in order to
obtain a limzr differential equation, to assume the
amplitude of the disturbances sufficiently small that
~swo190page344.
13131302—37-23
343
only Iirs&order terms need be retained The viscosity
effects are assumed small, zer6 in fact, except near the
boundary and in a critical layer where the wave velocity
of the disturbsmce equals the speed of the basic flow.
II the viscosity were neglected everywhere, the ampli-
tude of the disturbance would become inlinite in this
critical layer, thus invalidating the neglect of terms of
higher order than the first.
The results obtained for the Blasius distribution of
6gure 2. The region marked ‘%nstable” represents
which small disturbances are amplified. Disturbances
used as the characteristic lergth in the Reynolds Num-
ber and as the unit for mwmring the wave length.
I
A
z=
o ~w 2,000 3*W +000 Sam 60CW ~crw
L&s!=
v .
FIauEE2—wavelengthof dnu%uidafdfmo.rt=mm Whdl prodnw Instabafty
of
ond&hfMMng. k fs thewave
Iambmr Sow mar a @b mmrdlng toTolhofEII
lengtkq
P !9thedkpfacamont
thioknem
oftheboundaryWm. Uo thesp33dofthe
free
-, Y thekinomntfo
Vhcdty.
Tollmien (reference 15) haa shown that velocity dis-
tributions having an ~ection point, which occur in
boundary layers when the pressure increases down-
stream, are unstable and that the ampli&ation of smaU
disturbances is of a higher order of magnitude than the
one found for the Blasius distribution. Thus the non-
dimensional amplification factor is of the order of O to
0.05 for the distribution with inflection point as comp-
ared with O to 0.007 for the Blasius distribution.
These theoretical calculations are of the utmost im-
portance in the study of the origin of eddying flow.
The amplified disturbances do not, however, in them-
selves constitute eddy@ flow. The wave lengths of
the ampl.iiieddisturbances are of the order of 25 t.a 50
or more times the displacement thiclmess. Schlichting
(reference 14) computed the maximum possible ampli-
fication of the disturbances and concluded that a four-
fold to ninefold amplMcation appeared sufhient to pro-
duce eddying flow horn the long-wave disturbances as
judged by a comparison of experimentally observed
transition points with the theoretically computed maxi-
mum amplification in passing along the plate to the
*
.— .—. —.
344 REPORTNO. 562 NATIONALADvMORY COMNYI’IWE
FOR AERONAUTICS
observed transition point. It appears to be the opinion
of Tollmien that the formation of velocity distributions
with inflection points constitute an intermediate step
in the development of eddying flow, these distributions
- ~ the long-wave length disturbance increases
m amphtude.
An attempt wss made by Nikuradse (reference 16) h
check the theory. A gl= phh with a fsi.red leading
edge of metal was setup in a water channel provided
with slightly diverging walls to give constant static
~rcsmre along the plate. The disturbance in the flow
were reduced m much as possible, giving a transition
at an z-Reynolds Number of 655,000 or a 6*-Rey-
nolds Number of 1,400. Artificial disturbances of
approximately sinusoidal character md of varying fre-
quency were produced by a varying suction applied to
holes in $e faired leading-edge strip. Except for three
points at very low frequency, transition occurred at a
6*-Reynolds Number between 79o and 1,050, the
majority of the points scattering about a value of 850.
There was no indication that the frequency of the dis-
turbance had any marked effect as would be inferred
from the computations of Tollmien and Schlichting.
Nikuradse stites, ‘Terhaps the explanation is that,
since the disturbance impressed on the boundmy layer
is not of perfectly sinusoidal form, some harmonic of the
disturbance acts to produce turbuhwe. A CIW deci-
sion for or against the Tollmien theory is accordingly
Sw”ktcking.”
In the opinion of the author the numerous experi-
ments on the critical Reynolds Number of spheres
and airship models in relation to measurements of the
fluctuations present in the air stream furnish addi-
tional evidence that it is the amplitude of the disturb-
rbnces initially present rather than their frequency
which is of primary impori%mceand, as m Nilmradse’s
experiments, if the amplitude is fixed, the point of
transition is but little affected by the frequency,
provided the frequency is not too low?
The theory of smti vibrations in which only &s&
order terms are retained cannot give any information
as to the influence of amplitude of the fluctuations
originally present in the flow. h reference 17 the
author outlined briefly the following conception of the
mecha~ of transition:
The observed fluctuations of speed at a fixed point may be
taken aa an indication that at any one t&ne there are variation
of speed along the outer edge of the boundary layer. With
the speed variations there will be associated variations of pres-
sure, and in the regiona where the speed is decreAn g, the
pressure will be fnmw4ng. The magnitude of the pressure
gradient depends on the mnplitude and frequency of the speed
fluotuatio~ inoreming = either inorwsea- At a sutRcient
distrmm from the leading edg~ the thickness of the boundary
layer will be suoh that there will be a reversal of the direotion
of flow near the surface in those places where the preasum iE
inoredng dowmtream. Larger speed fluctuation bring larger
JIt h knownthatthereh someaffmtof “averagesizeof eddfd’ on theaitfcd
ReyneMsNumber ofasph~ buttheetlect IsofE10W6T order of rwnftndetbm
theaffectof amplitudeof tne~ flnctuatfon.
P~ gradientsand an earlierreversalof flow. It seemE
very probable that suoh a reversal would give rise to the
formation of eddies
This conception diffem from that of Tollrnien in
that (1) the disturbances are “forced” by the external
turbulence rather than being “free vibrations” rmd
(2) the eddying flow is assumed to origimte in velocity
distributions with reversed flow which oocur as a result
of separation rather than in distributions which have
only inflection points.
Some computations have been made to show the
sensitivity of a boundary layer to sdiall pressure gra-
dients and the facility with which sepmwtion occurs,
The computations were made by a modification of
Pohlhausen’s method, which has been described in
reference 11. The problem tmmted was that of the
laminar boundary layer of a plate in a steady externnl
flow
~=1+0.02 sin (2+–a)
b other words, a sinusoidal variation (with distance z)
of amplitude equal to 2 percent of the mean speed,
wave length X, and phase a relative to the leading
edge of the plate was superposed on the uniform
flow of speed uO. Computations were made for ten
values of a corresponding to displacement of the sine
wave by steps of 0.1 A. The speed distributions ob-
tained for two values of a are shown in figure 3,
Separation occurs at the points indicated.
Each of these computations refers to a steady flow,
the distribution being independent of the time. As Q
rough approximation to a traveling wave we may,
however, consider the sin? wave slowly displaced along
the plate and inquire as to the value of the mean speed
at a given point and of the variation of the speed at
that point. The mean speed is found to be practiodly
identical with the Blasius distribution. The speed
fluctuations expressed as root-mean-square value9 me
plotted in figure 4.
The essentialfeatures of the results to which we shall
have occasion to refer are as follows:
1. The mean speed is practically unaffected by this
simplified turbulence of the external flow.
2. There are speed variations within the boundary
layer which are much larger than those in the external
flow. Their amplitude increases with distance from
he Ieading edge of the plate.
3. The point of sepmation is not fixed bu~ moves
Jack and forth within certain limits.
4. The position of the separation point and the
I.istribution of the speed variations depend on the
vave length 1.
5. While computations for only one amplitude have
men made in full, it may be shown that there is ~
narked dependence of the location of the sepmation
?oint on the amplitude of the speed variation in the
xternal flow.
 AIR FLOW IN THE
The variation of speed in the external flow along the
plate at any given instant is not sinusoidal in charactar,
and it is not at all evident that the quasi-stationary
method of computation is justified. All the results
listed, however, are in agreement with experimental
data except 4, the effect of wave length. The two
theories of the transition are, in a sense, supplementary.
If the fluctuations are extremely small, eddying flow
may arise in the Tolhnien manner from accidental
disturbances. If the fluctuations are suf%ciently large,
BOUNDARYLAYER NEAR A PLATD 345
view of the large effect of frequaucy required by both,
which was not found in Nikuradse’s experiment.
Eddying flow.-In experimental work on eddying
flow, the distribution of mean speed near a wall is
found to be represented fairly well by a power law of
the form u=ay ‘, where u is the mmn speed, y the
distance from the wall, and a and n are empirical
constants. For Reynolds Numbem that are not too
large, n is approximately 1/7 and this value has been
much used a9 the starting point in computing the
fliction.
This purely empirical representation has been super-
seded by a formula having some theoretical backing,
namely,

“=wTa+ilO@’fl
‘“)
I-28
I

J I I I 1 I
o I 2 3 4

3
FrmJEB4.-Oomprrtedrwbmwm+qnareflrrotnatfon
of@ fortheflowofflgnre3
whenais vrn’fedfromo
to%. Thecontoarsaremntunrs of@ valuwofth
mt-rnmrlqrmrou-EnotrratfonqE-m60d
fnpm’cent
OftheSpMdoftheW stream.
hth W_tbeflntiMonkl.4 ~ttitiem~-.

where r. is the shearing stress at the wall, p is the

3 ferred in pam-dlelflow along a wall. Both in a pipe and
~OUBEL+omputed dlstrlbutfon ofma- sped fn thebcmndnrg layerofa plnti
fortheextwnnlflowtl/UO.1+0.02sln (tip.-a). Thecontorrmammntmra01
eqrmlvahmofu/U& Sepamtfon b@ns attbeIMhtslndhtwf by arrows.
ns probably happens in most practical cases, the eddy-
ing flow arks from the forced fluctuations of the
boundary layer. The two pictures agree in exhibiting
fluctuations of wave lengths that are long as compared
with the thickness of the boundary layer. Thwe
fluctuations produce pressure gradients as a prelimi-
nary step. The long-wave disturbmces do not them-
selves constitute eddying flow, although they involve
comparatively large speed fluctuations. The correct-
ness of either picture must be left an open question in
density of the fluid, v the kinematic viscosity, and a
and k are constants. This equation is due to von
K&nm$n. (See reference 6.)
The original paper should be consulted for a detailed
discussion of the theory. The formula is derived for
the idealized case of a con.dani shearing stress trans-
near a will, the shesring stress is not constant but
decreases with increasing distance from the wrdl.
Nevertheless the formula is found experimentally to
lit the velocity distribution as far as the center of the
tube or the outer edge of the boundag layer, and the
constant k is nearly the same whether computed from
velocity distribution in smooth or rough pipes or near
rLwall, or from skin-friction measurements in smooth
m rough pipes or on plates.
For the case of the skin-friction plate, it is con-
270
venient to set —=cfl the locrd friction coefficient,
p uo~
346 REPORTNO. 562 NATIONALADVISORYCOMMITI’EEFOR AERONAUTICS

and to write equation (13) in the form The plate,—Two plates were used in the course of
the work. Each was a polished aluminum plate, %
7%=(9T”+(iH9w’91
’14) inch thick and 2 feet wide. In the preliminary series
of mewurements, the plate -was49 inches long and the .
Then setting v=6 for ~= 1 and subtracting the leading edge was beveled aa indicatad at-.E in figure 6.
resulting equation from (141Uwe find Since the preliminary measurements indicated a con-
siderable disturbance at the leading edge, this plate
—— (15)
;0 I=qlogg Is
In order to show the similarity with the power-law %J
formula, (15) may be written I
g(@a#
& =
() 6 (16)

For small values of &1, the term on the left may

be espanded in the series 1+

(3)‘(”-l)etc
~0–1

whence, retaining only the first two terms

+3 ~0

c.

(17
H
Thus the exponent in the empirical power law repre-
sentation may be expected to be a function of the local
friction coefficient, and the power law representation
itself may be expected to be did only for small values
of ~–l.
u
The velocity distribution in the laminar sublayer
near the wall may be approximated by solving the
equfLtionTO= P ‘~~ =- To cOn8t~t. The result is
c
(18) .
c.

From Ton IQ1.rmhn’suniversal velocity distribution

near a smooth wall, which was based on the data of
Nikumdse, the transition between (18) and (14) extends
from (c,/2)K 9=8 to (c#)M-=‘oy 100. For cf=O.O1,
v
1=
the ~ve ‘“U”
of ~E from 113 to 1,413; for c,= O.001, the F.
~,

range is fromv 358 to 4,473. Hence (14) cannot be

.,
E
expected to hold accurately for ~< about 4;000.
E
tL
MEASUREMENTS AT THE NATIONAL BUREAU OF
STANDARDS FI13ufmh—’hwm-semwkanhmandlmiing FmuEz6.-Tmwmo meohanko
6ilgesh13penswlln
thepWmhmrYxmamr- andleed@edmsho~uc.wllntho
APPAItATUS amonts(swimA). latermm.mrmnenta(mr@ B, O,
andD).
Wind tunnel.-The measurements were made in the
3-foot wind tunnel of the National Bureau of Standards w-as discarded. A new plate, 60 inches long, with
from December 1929 to November 1930. A sketch of ding edge sharp and symmetrically shaped as shown
the tunnel and a brief description are given in reference it E in figure 6 was used for all other measurements.
18. The tunnel is of the room return type with closed The plate was mounted on two light 7-inch channels
cylindrical working section, 6 feet lo~~ and 3 feet in is shown at F in @e 5. The channels ran longitudi-
diameter. The area of the entrance crow section, at mlly parallel to the axis of the wind tunnel, one fhmge
which the honeycomb is located, is 5.44 times the )f each channel being faatened to the tunnel wall,
working cross section. The turbulence at the working L’hewebs furnished supports for the edges of the plate
seotion is 0.5 percent, the criticrd Reynolds Number for md filled the gap between the edges of the plate rmd the
a 5-inch sphere being 270,000. iqnnel wall.
 AIR FLOW IN THE BOUNDARYLAYER NEAR A PLATE 347
The upstream edge of the plate was approximately 2 The improved mounting showed no observable effect
feet downstream from the upstrwn end of the working on the static pressure at the wire petition and the
section and the downstream edge was within the expand- blocking was inappreciable. The vibration of the wire
ing exit cone. relative to the plate was greatly reduced. There is
The hot-wire anemometer.—The speeds were meas- perhaps some slight deflection of the prongs at high
ured by a hot-wire anemometer and associated equip- wind speeds because of wind pressure on the prongs.
ment. The wire used was a platinum wire 0.017 mm The associated equipment is essentially as described
in diametar and about 8 mm long. This very small in the appendix to reference 18. The fundamental
wire was used to permit measurements of rapid fluc- theory of the hohwire anemometer as used for measur-
tuations in speed as well M the mean speed. ing mean speed and fluctuations in the mean speed is
In the preliminary series of measurements, the given in reference 7. The performance of the particular
mounting shown in fi~we 5 was used. The wire A equipment used in these measurements as regards
was mounted at the ends of the prongs B which ram accuracy of compensation for the lag of the wire is
downstream from the wire for about 12 inches. The given in figure 1 of reference 17. The meaaurementg
prongg were bent at right angles and supported on a were completed before the development of the im
movable slide, which in turn was supported from the proved equipment described in referemx 19.
lower channel F by the bent streamline bracket G.
R~UCTION OF OBSERVATIONS
‘The position of the wire relative to the date C waa
varied by merms of the micrometer scr~~ D. The At a given distance from the front edge of the plate.
reading of the screw for zero distance was determined ~d for a given speed, the following obsmatio~ ~we
either by moving the wire in until the prongs touched m~e:
the plate as determined by an auxiliary electric circuit 1. Micrometer reading for y= O.
or, better, by observing the reflection of the wire in the 2. Voltage of potentiometer battery (by comparison
mirror surface of the plate. When obse- the with s~dmd CCO
reflection, the mounting could be adjusted by shimming 3. Resistance of wire at air temperature.
the bracket until the wire was accurately parallel to 4. Voltage drop across wire for various air speeds
the plate. with wire about 1 inch from plate (i. e., in free air
Since the wire expands when heatid and contracts s~-).
when cooled, the prongs must be flexible. Otherwise 5. For 10 or 15 valuea of y, values of the average
n wire which is taut nnd straight when cool will become voltage drop and the roobmm-squme vol~e fluc-
slnck when heated or, if adjusted when heated, it will tuation. The average current through the wire WM
break when the heating current is shut off. Sat& ~j~ted. h be 0.2 ampere at mch value of y. The
factory results were obtained by using&e steel needlm resistance to be used in the compemntion &tit of
for the extreme tips. The tie platinum wire was the amplifier was computed and the adjustment made
electrically welded to the needles. “ at each value of y. The amplifier was calibrated
The long bracket G of this mounting tended to before and aftm the serieg.
vibrate at high wind speeds, making the distancas of 6. Items 1, 2, 3, 4 were repeated in reve~e order.
the wire from the plate uncert& and a small but 7. Frequent observations were made of air tempera-
measumble effect on the static pressure at the position ture, and the barometric pressure was read at the
of the wire was detected. The slide and bracket block beginning and end of the seriw.
an undesirably large percentage of the area of the air Gfibration of the wire.-The relationship between
stream. Hence when the preliminary measurement the heat loss H and the speed u is given by the formtia
were completed, a new and improved mounting was H= (A+BJti)o (19)
constructed.
The improved mounting (fig. 6) was contained where 0 is the diilerence in temperature behvmn the
wholly within a tube H having a cross section about wire and the air and A. and B are constants for a given
1 inch square. The axis of the tube was parallel to wire. If i is the heating current and R the resistance
the air flow and the tube was clamped directly to the of the heated wire (exclusive of the leads) when exposed
plate with small spacing blocks between the tube and to the stream, H=z7R. Denoting the resistance of the
the plate. The wire prongs were rotated about the wire at air temperature by & and the temperature
fulcrum J (&. 6) by the cam 1, which waa moved by coefficient of resistance refereed to that temperature
the micrometer screw D. The wire was 13.28 inches by a
from the fulcrum, so that for small lateral displace- *=R–S
‘ (20)
ments the wire moved practically at right anglea to the x
plate. The micrometer screw was calibratd in terms Thus the calibration formula (19) may be titti b
of lateral movement cif the wire in an auxihary appa- the form
ratus in which the lateral displacement was measured H_tW.I&a
(21)
by means of a second micrometer screw. T–T~=A+B~
348 REPORT NO. 562 NATIONALADVISORYCOMMITI?EEFOR AERONAUTICS
The product R,a is equal to the slope of the cu.rw
of resistance plotted against air temperature and i
approximately independent of the air temperature.
Two typical calibration runs are shown in table 12
and figure 7. In the table the detaile of the computa
tion of the true speed u horn the pressure developed b~
a reference static plate amdthe air density are omitted
since the procedure is well lmown. The two oalibra
tions at the beginning and end of the series of observa
tions show very satisfactory agreement. Such gooc
agreement was not obtained in all cases, especially -ivhel
the wire was subjected to speeds of 130 to 150 feet pel
second. In those instances where the calibration curwx
were diilerent, an interpolation was made. In aboui
one-third of the 62 series of observations made, th
calibration curves at the beginning and end agreed u
well as those shown in figure 7. h some 25 serk th
.Caas
.CKJ24
/
J ;.0916
I
.-” *
m14
.CQ12 ~ 7i . II
+?4
Flaum 7.-CEdfbmtfon
mrv~ forho&wfmanenmmetar.
u is theairsp?edin fed
porsxnnd. &Oktforor@mtkm ofoh mmbok Thedotsandci-csmdls
w-dbm-titi~mdmd ofa~tio~~ofw
tribntfonofm= m andmeedflnctoatfon.
difference corresponded to a shift in the value of IL/U{
of 0.01 to 0.03, so that the interpolated values have a
probable precision of about 0.01. In the remaining 16
series, the difference corresponded to a shift in u/UC
greater than 0.03, rarely exceeding 0.06. h these wiseE
the interpolated values have a probable precision of
about 0.02. The use of the d diameter- wire
required to obtain fluctuation measurements impairs
somewhat the precision of the measurements of mean
speed.
Determination of the mean speed.—The determina-
tion of the mean speed in one series is illustrated in
table III. The detailed micrometer readings and
potentiometer readings are omitted, only the final
values of y and of the vohkqgedrop being given. The
procedure may seem somewhat cumbersome, since onc
might plot the observed voltage drop in the calibration
runs against speed and from such curves read off the
speeds corresponding to the observed voltage drop in
table III. The advantage of the procedure followed is
the linear form of the calibration curve and its inde-
pendence of air temperature. The iinal values obtained
are not significantly affected by comparatively large
changes in l& and a so that these quantities do not
need to be lmown with high precision.
Heat loss due to presenoe of the plate.—When a
hotiwire anemometer is used near a solid wall, the heat
loss at a given speed is probably affected by the
presence of the wall. In still air, the effect is quito
perceptible at distances of about 0.08 inch from the
wall. The magnitude of the effect is lmown to be a func-
tion of the speed, decreasing as the speed increases
(reference 20). No entirely satisfactory procedure has
been devised to correct for this effect.
Van der Eegge Zijnen determined the heat loss in
still air aa a function of the distance from the surface
and the temperature difference between the whe and
the surroundings. Ee then deducted from the observed
heat loss in his experiments the excess heat loss found
in still air at the same distance and temperature differ-
ence above the heat loss at a large distance from the
pkte.
A similar determination of the heat loss in still air
was made in the present series of experiments and it
was found that for temperature differences 0 from 100°
C. to 400° C., distances y 0.004 to 0.070 inch, the heat
loss H, due to the plate could be represented by the
empirical formula
H..=0.0000000127;f?2 (22)
where 1 is the length of the wire in inches, and Hp is
measured in watts.
The result of applying this correction to the results
of table HI is shown in table IV. The value of u/UOat
y= O.015inch is reduced by 0.05.
Van der Eegge Zijnen noted that in some instances
application of the correction gave S-shaped curves.
He also found that the speed-distribution curvoa did
not pass through the zero of the diagram and he
arbitrarily decreased the y values by amounts from
Oto O.OO5inch to make them pass through zero. It is
signiiiwmt that application of the heat-loss correction
based on still air determinations will produce a ohange
in the intercept on the y sxis in the direction observed.
On the basis of the results obtained for the laminnr
part of the boundary layer, which will be disousseil
later and the results of Schubauor (reference 21), it
~eemsbest to make no correction for heat loss when the
HoWis laminar and the speed is greater than 3 feet per
]econd. In the absence of further information on the
behavior of the wire when the flow is eddying, no
:orrection has been made in that case either.
 AIR FLOW IN TBE BOUNDARY LAYER NEAR A PLATE
Determination of fluctuations,-The root-mean.
square fluctuation in speed may be determined by
measuring the roohmean-square fluctuation in volts.g
drop across the wire by means of a calibrated ampli.iie]
suitably companmted for the lag of the wire. Simx
the cooling is approximately independent of the direc-
tion of the air flow, the fluctuations are fluctuations oi
the absolute value of the velocity but, since the u-com-
ponent of the fluctuation adds algebraically to the
mean speed u whereas the z-component is at right
angle9, the fluctuation is primarily the u-fluctuation
and is so designated in this paper.
The relation between speed fluctuation and voltage
fluctuation may be found by differentiating (21) per-
mitting i and R to V~, as follows:
To connect di and dR, we have the relation
12=i(R+r) (24)
where 12 is the battery voltage and r is the resistance of
the heating circuit, excluding that of the wire. Hence
—Ml? –’%2?
(26)
‘i”m= 12
and we iind on substitution in (23), setting i dR=dE
349
the preliminary series A), the errors in ujVO do not
exceed 0.02, and the errors in 100$ do not exceed 0.2
except for the very high values in the transition reggon.
The contour diagrams used to present the results can
be read easily to this precision.
No corrections have been applied for heat loss to the
plate.
PklELIMINAItY
MEASUREMENTS WITH PRESSURE GRADIENT
The measurements now regarded as preliminary
rneasuremanta (series A) were not so intended when
the work was begun. They are here reported in spite
of some inadequacies because some of the results me
of interest and the experiments with pressure gradient
were not repeated with the improved equipment.
The plate (fig. 5) and the traversing apparatus have
already been described. The equipment was installed
in the wind tunnel and the plate was alined to give a
Wm.metical wake as detcmnined by a pitot tube. This
installation required setting the plate at an angle of
Approximately O.1°to the axis of the tunnel. Although
1.0 10
.8 8

.6 6
If root-mean-square values are considered, the minus *~ ~
E
sign may be omitted. .4 4
A typical determination, omitting details of the com-
putation of the com~ensation remnkmce and calibra-
.2 2
tion of the ampli6er, ISshown in table V.
If rLcorrection had been applied for heat loss accord-
ing i% (22), it is easily shown that a third term is added 0 o
.02 .04 .06 .08 .10 J2 ./4
within the bracketa on the righhhand side of (26) equal y, imhes
~ 0.0000000127 FIGURE &—Dls&fbntfon of mmn8w4 anda-flminatfonats-93 inolmsforU,-
o The effect of making this correc- 1CK2fe3tpersecond. !l!nrbrdenm
offrwskmm,0.5pa-cant.
&a
tion to he results of table V is shown in table VT. The this necessity indicated at once that the leading-edge
form was probably not the most desirable one, it was
vrdues of $ are modified but there is very little change
decided to proceed with some measurements.
The pressure gradient along a line parallel to and
in the values of
$“ 9 inches from the plate is shown in figure 9. For the
Fairing of results for preparation of oontour dia- most part the pressure gradient is nob constant. There
grams,-h order to prepme contour diagrams, the is, however, a distance of about 2 feet, beghning about
results of each series were plotted as shown in figure 8 3 inches downstream from the leading edge, over which
and values read from faired curves at even intervals of bhepressure falls at the rate of about 1.7 percent of the
v/ ?30and du/ U. as illustrated in table VII. The z and y velocity pressure per foot.
Reynolds Numbers were computed. It may be re- The test speed chosen was approximately 100 feet
marked in passing that iigure 8 illustrates the distribu- pm second. If transition had occurred at the same
tion of mean speed and u-fluctuation near the beginning ~-Reynolds Number (300,000) as in the measurements
of the transition region. of van der Hegge Zijnen, it should have been found
It does not seem practicable to present the original 3 inches behind the leading edge. Measurements at
observations of the 62 series of observations. The 3.32 inches and 17.5 inches gave distributions of mean
sample series gives some idea of the precision and Jpeed of the kuninar type although the u-fluctuations
accuracy of the observations. In gmer~, itiSbelieved were considerably larger than in the general flow.
tlmt the errora in y do not exceed 0.003 inch (except in Mar some study of a very pronounced disturbance
350 REPORT NO. 562 NATIONAL ADVISORY CO_~E FOR AERONAUTICS
. .
at the leading edge, measurements were made at plate was somewhat dusty and it was decided to clean
35.63 inches from the leading edge where the flow the plate. This was done and the run continued.
still was of the ltiar type. The speed was then The distribution then observed waa of the laminar
increased to 145 and ii.na.llyto 175 feet per second, at type, the run being that plotted in figure 10 for an
which speeds the transition type of distribution was z-Reynolds Number of 1,615,000.
found at a dist&nce of about 35 inches. The three distributions, all obtained within n few
The results of the measurements of mean speed are days under presumably identical conditions except for
shown in figure 10, omitting two runs which will be the amount of dust on the plate, are shown in figure 11.
discussed SSpmtdy. Transition begins at an z-Rey- This plot gives the essential difference in character of
nolds Number of approximately 1,800,000. From the distribution of mean speed in the laminar, transi-
the plot the values of y appear to be subject to a tion, and eddying regimes. .
systematic error, since the 0.3 speed contour is much The corresponding Wfluctuations are shown in figure
closer to the wall than three timm”the distance between 12. There are illustrated the characteristic distribu-
the 0.3 and 0.4 speed contour. A detailed study by tions of u-fluctuations for the laminar, transition, and
means of cross plots and comparison with the Blasim eddying regime-s.
distribution led to the conclusion that the values of The observations of u-fluctuations arc hardly com-
y are probably too small by about 0.008 inch, COrre plete enough to enable the plotting of an accurate
spending at a speed of 102 feet per second to a dis- contour diagram. The values from faked curves are
placement of the values of R, by 400. It appeared igdicated in figure 13, the two runs previously dis-
CUS96dbeing Omitted. The solid contours are drawn
o
on the assumption that the observations at z-Reynolds
Numbers of 117,000 and 1,773,000 are not to be con-
-.02 sidercd- Sice the necessi~ of k?oping dust removed
Ap from the plate was not appreciated; the various meas-
T urements may not be comparable. The location of
-.04
the contours has been guided to some extent by thb
results of the later measurements.
-.06 One inte@ing feature is the disturbance near the
leading edge. The u-fluctuation in the free stream was
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 ~
Dk%nce along funne~ inches ordy 0.5 p&cent of the mean speed, whereas in this dis-
Fmuw 9.—Pmmm gmdknt formaa.nuam ene ofties A (f@ 10to 14,ln~~ve~. turbance the u-fluctuation is 5.0 percent of the mean
gb tbe rafemncevekftr Wu3’ma=The amsendenetammmmro elm of Sb3tio speed in the free air stream. Evidently the stagnation
~=~time @@ _ ~ m ~IW@ p~ plottedV7itbnfgnravgmed.
pmsmrain~asthestatiopre=ua dm’mmdbutattie samerata point is on the inclined Ieading edge and the flow around
the sharp cornei sets up an increased turbulence. This
that the mounting of figure 5 was not sufficiently r!gid.
turbulence is damped out to some extent along the
It was found that the mounting vibratd somewhat in
plate, then incieases, slowly at tit, but very rapidly
the wind with a vibrating motion of perhaps 0.005
m the transition region. The primary purpose of pre-
inch at the wire. For this reason no great reliance
sentingthese exploratory measurem&ts is to show that
can be placed on the values of y, but the general
with an accderating pr%sure gradient present the
character of the speed distribution and the value of
ltrong leading-edge dis@bance is not sufEcient to
the z-Reynolds hTumberfor transition are not tiected
produce an wly transition.
by this uncertain~.
At 35.5 inches, the flow was .@ of the transition
Two runs which have been omitted from figure 10
type, so that completely eddying flow was not obtained
are worthy of sp~cial consideration. After the obser-
in this series of measurement.
vations at 102 feet per second were completed, obser-
When it was realized that the traverse mechanism
vations were made at 145 feet per second, beginning at
ms not giving sufficiently accurate values of y, that the
a distance of 35.3 inches from the leading edge, then
leading edge shape was very poor, that the plate must
29.44 inches, each giving Q transition type of curve.
be kept free of dust, and that the influence of the
On the following day measurements were made at
pressure gradient was very large, it was decided to
23.31 inches and, surprisingly, the distribution was
make a completely fresh start.
that characteristic of fully developed turbulent flow.
This result seemed unreasonable and the next day a MEASUREMENTS WITH SMALLERPRESSUREQRADIRNT
repeat run was made without disturbing the apparatus. Normal air stream.-As already described n new
The curve obtained was of the transition type, not plate was obtained with sharp symmetrical lending
checking the previous run. A week end intervened ~dge tid a new traversing mechrmiamwas constructed
and 3 days latar a second repeat run w-aa begun. (fig. 6). In addition, an attempt was made to secure
After one observation, which appeared to fall in with the condition of zero pressure gradient. It was first
the immediately preceding run, it was noticed that the thought that the desired result might be obtnined by rL
 AIR FLOW IN THE BOUNDARY LAYER NEAR A PLATE 351

@oo

+fOm

3,0m
*
v
2,000

Jom

o 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 18 J8 20 22 2-4 26 28 30XI05
Ux
T
FIGUEE 10.–DMrfbutfon
of meanspo@ Prdfrnfnwymrfo$ gmdkntof tgnro9,tnrbnfenca
A, wfthPrmsrrre of fr@stream,0.5permnt. 3mkend of dgnm1fornotatfon
U,thespexlofthefreastrmm,lncreemslightlyalongthePlata Themntonrnamcontoursofeqnalu/t%

1.0 /0

.8 8

,6 6
& 100$
.4 4

.2 2

00.04.06./2 .16 ~ .24 ..28 0 .04 .C19 .12 .16 .20 24 .26
y, inches y. inches

FIouudlL—DMrfbutfon ofmmnSIMM atz-Z2.3fnok forU-1462 featx mxurd, ~GwEE12-DMrflmtlmrofu-flnctnation

atz-23.3 hmlmfor Um146.2festpm890
sbowfngeffmtof ronghn- pnxftrmdby duston theploto. The thm cn.rvm end,showingtied ofmngbmosproduced by dustonthePlato. Thethree~
llhtroto dktrfbutkmofthekrolnar,tromitlon,andeddtig tYPM. -te dhhibUtiOU9
OftheUmIhmr, _tiou anddiybrg fJB
~om

7/200

6,0LM

~om
@/
v
+m

3/OC@

2,0C0

~om

o 246 8 10 12 /6/4 18 /?3 22 24 26 2B .X7XI05

L&
v
FIaun~13.–Dfstribntion of wtlntitkm Prelfmbmry
mrfmA, withprmsnmgradientof llgnre9, turhtdermeof hmostream,0.5FMJIt. The mntoomammntonr
of eqtrolvafuesof thermt-mmnqtmreSPW fluotnatfon
mp- fn wrmntof the@ of thofrwstream Sealegendof flgnro1 fornotathn. Nob fntanm
lendlngMm dhtarbnnm.
136692-37-24
352 REPORT NO. 562 NATIONAL ADVR30RY CO MMJTI’EE FOR AERONAUTICS

slight inclination of the plate to produce an exPand@ Several weeks were spent in modifications of the con-
cross section between the worl@ side of tie plate and tour of the blistem to secure approximately zero pr~
the wall. Presmre surveys showed cntiderable 10~ sure gradient. The ideal w= in no wise atttied and
variations near the plate of tie nature found for sma~ the tit series of measurements with the improved
o

-.02

-.04
.-

e F.
-’K.
c

Se&on

FIQUEE
.K’

aw

14.-’TNht@m” fnwfndtunnelto redncamesmregradfent.

ImtaUod
-.08

Fmti-til;-P~
l-d
I I I

lo.20304050m

OfflETMO
I meanvake%ami+*mof0.4
I

Distance
gradientformea$nromentd
9. TbeSJWMI
-t.
-K

OfthO fr’BO-
I

de-
I

along

of .mrk+B andD (figs.10to 22,

ti tbe
I I

funne~
I I

inches
I I I

70
1

11,000

Io,ooo

gooo

❑ L4=119 ft. per sec. 1

qooo

o u - f 53 ft.per Sec

7000 !

6000
@
v
5000
/

+DOO
/
7,
3/em Y ~ 0/
/ x

n
/ x
Z#oD
6
/$
x
(000 ~
4- — -—
‘.3 :4
0 24 6 B IO 12 14 16 I@ 20 ~

FIGURE
1o.- offlgore1fornotation.

. plates set at a small angle of attack. Attention was
then turned toward producing the qmmding cross
section by suitable blocking at the tunnel walls. The
general form and scale of the “blisters” applied to the
tunnel wsll is shown in figure 14 at K.
apparatus -ivaamade under the pressure gradient shown
in figure 15. The pressure falls slightly for 2 inches,
then rises at the rate of about 0.9 percent of the ve-
locity pressure per foot for about 19 inches, then falls
at a rate of about 1 percent of the velocity pressure per
 AIR FLOW ~
foot. By comparison with figure 9, the total range in
pressure has been reduced to one-fourth of that pre-
viously found and the maximum gradient has been
reduced to about one-half that previously found, with
gradients of both signs occurring.
In the tit series of measurements (series B), only
mean speeds were determined. Sixteen travemes were
THE BOUNDARY LAYER NEAR A PLATE 353
beat 10EBto the wall in still air been applied as a cor-
rection to the observed heat loss.
The data available in the eddying region are hardly
m.ilicient to make possible any extensive analysis. In
&gure 18 obsemations for z-Reynolds Numbers of
1,607,000 and 2,083,000 are plotted in a form suggested
by equation (15). This equation represents the data

1.0 10.0 .0
.9

.8 “ 9.9 .8

- 7U
3~9.8
.6 #
#
~
ii
.4 ; S7 .5

.2 S!6

9.5
0123456 7 20 24 2!8 3-2 3.6 40 44 48

%)% Llqo y
FILIWRE
17.—Dfstrfbutfon
of mean speed,fOrs=.5, 11, arid 17 fmhE4 safes. B, plotted FIOUEE
19.—Dktrfbntkm
of mean.sp+d,forr-RoyncddsNnrnborI,007,LMI
ond
forcnmpdson wfththeBkfns dbttflmtfon. 2@9,Wl,rarfmB, pfottd formm-n withtheIXIJWX-18W
dlstrfbntfon.

made in all, at distances 2, 5, 11, 17, 22.8, and 28.8 Ivbll tithin the precision of the observations over rt
inches from the leading edge, at speeds of 119 and 135 tider range than the power law representation sho~
feet per second except for one run at 28.8 inches for a figure19. The lines drawn in figure 19 correspond
which the speed was 153 feet per second. The contour k exponents of 0.16 and 0.17.

Zm

!Lloza
6m
-n.m,ti.oti I I ““
-Q4 .6 5W
&-1 6
-Q6 .4 4m
~
‘Q8 .2
am

0 2,m
““o 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48
Logo q
J,m
FIOUEE
l&-Dfsbfbntfonof meanEP.@ forvReynoldsNnmka I,W,@l) and
2@3,1D3,
serfesB, fhtkl formmxn wfththelogmithmfo
Wtrfbntfon.

diagr~m fkom faired curves similar to iigure

prepared 02468J0 12 14XI05
q.
8 is shown in figure 16.
Transition begins at an z-Reynolds Number of about FIOUBB2).-Dfstxfbntfonofmean~, .sorMD, wfthp~ gmdkntof flgnre
16,tnrbnfence
offrm.Nrmm,0.S~L k legendofflgom1fornotatfom
1,100,000. The observations for the several speeds me
quite concordant and there is no indication of any sys- The first seriw of measurements of mean speed only
tematic error in the values of y, except possibly at the (series B) was made during the month of June 1930.
2-inch station (z-Reynolds Number about 120,000). b October, after the completion of some measure-
Figure 17 shotis that the results for the 6-, 11-, and ments with increased turbulence of the wind stream,
17-inch stations are in very satisfactory agreement ~ second series of measurements (series D) was made
with the Bias.iustheoretical curve. In this figure, the n which both mean speed and u-fluctuations were
original observations, not faired values, are plotted. determined. Twelve traverses were made, at distances
The agreement would not have been so good had the )f 2, 5, 11, 17, 23 dnd 28 inches, at a speed of 105
 L-.
354 REPORT NO. 562 NATIONAL
feet per second. The contour diagram of the distri-
bution of mean speed is shown in ilgu.re20.
Comparison of the original observations for the 2-,
5-, 11-, and 17-inch stations with the Bh&s curve is
made in figure 21. There is some evidence of a system-
atic errcr in y of the order of 0.001 inch, the observed
values being too large. From the construction of the
traverse mechanism, the effect of wind load on the
prongs would be to deflect the mounting toward the
plate. Such an tiect is not indicatid, however, in
the earlier series (fig. 17). In view of tie difficulty
of the measurements, it seems quite clem that the Blas-
ius curve is ‘an accurate representation of the lami.mr
portion of the velocity field near a plate with sharp
1.0
.8
.6
ii
.4
2
‘o 1234567
yK &
FTOURE 2L—DMxibution of mwr swadj for z-% & 11, and 17 inch%
plotted for mmprfsorr with the Blasirts dkldbrrtion.
symmetrical leading e@ge in a stream without appre-
citible pressure gradient.
No observations of this series fall within the eddying
rc~<on.
The contour diagram of the u-fluctuations is shown
in figure 22. It is not possible without greatly ccn-
fusing the diagram to show either origgal observations
or faired values. In one traverse at 11 inches, the
fluctuations were abnormally large and not concordant
with two additional traveraes at the same station.
The cause is not known, and results for this one trav-
erse have not been considered. Otherwise, the indi-
vidual traverses were reasonably concordant, rmd it
has only been necewary to smooth out minor incon-
sistencies. The faired values from which figure 22 was
prepsmd are given in table VIII. The u-fluctuation
in the free air stream WS9 0.5 percent of the mean
speed.
The interacting features of figure 22 are the leading-
edge disturbance, which has not been completely
eliminated; the fluctuations in the laminar region of
magnitude about three times the free-stream fluctua-
tion; the increasing amplitude of fluctuation beghming
at an z-Reynolds Number of 700,000, as ccmpared,
&th transition at 1,100,000 as inferred from the dis-
tribution of mean speed; and the large amplitude of
fluctuation in the transition region.
ADVISORY COKWI’ITE E FOR AERONAUTICS
Artificially turbulent air strsam,-The very high
value of the z-Reynolds Number, 1,100,000, for transi-
tion, as compared to the value 300,000 observed by
ran der Hegge Zijnen and Hansen, is undoubtully to
be attributed to the small magnitude of the u-fluctua-
tions in the normal air stream of the 3-foot wind
tunnel. In order to definitely confirm this statement,
the turbulence was artificially increased by the intro-
duction of a wire screen of %inch mesh 39 inches
head of the lending edge of the plate. Some 200
mmll aluminum tags about 1% inches by 1 inch by
% inch were fastened to the screen by paper clips.
I’he tagw, fluttering in the wind, produced a large
distributed u-fluctuation whose rcot-mecn-square value
ma about 3.0 percent of the mean speed of the air
stream. The fluctuations normally present were m-
eordingly increased by a factor of 6.
The u-fluctuation decreased slightly along the plate,
from about 3.2 percent at the leading edge to about
Zm
Gm
5W
8 4,CHW
Y
series D, SW
Zaw
I,(2W
O 2 4 6 8 10 /2 14xlof
Ujz
T
RQUBE2Z.-Dktribnt1on
ofa-tlnotuatlon,
mrk D, withPrmnroigoruont
offlguro
M,tnrbrdmca
offrw.!&mq 0.6Parmnt.SeaIwnd orfigum13.
2.8 percent at 28 inches from the leading edge. Tho
xmximum single value observed was 3.42 and the
uinimum, 2.56 percent.
The pressure .-client along the plate was that
;ho~\min figure 23. The variation is similar to that of
igure 15, but the appro@rnation to ccnstant pressure
m-wsomewhat better.
Twelve traverses were made at n speed of about 65
!eet per second at distances 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11.5,
13, 18, !23, and 28.5 inches from the leading edge, and
;en traverses were made at a speed of about 32.5 feet
~er second at distances 4, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 28
riches. In six cases, thereforp, approximately the
mme x-Reynolds Number was obttied at two speeds
iiflerhg by a factcr of 2. The choice of speeds
xmsiderably lower than 100 feet per second permitted
iome increase in precision. The contour diagram pre-
mred from faired curves is shown in figure 24.
 AIR FLOW h THE BOUNDARY LAYER NElAJ3 A PtiTE 355

Transition begins at nn x-Reynolds Number of the ms show that the precision of the measurements is
order of 100,000; i. e., very close to the leading edge. ot sufficiently great to determine the slope with very
The results for the two speeds are reasonably con- rent cxcurnoy.
cordant and, in the six cams where the same Reynolds
Number was obtained at the two speeds, there is no o
o
-02
t
+!2
-a4

% fi-1
704 -06

7a50 ‘0.8
60 70
‘o Dis%ce o?ong f%el, %?hes
F[otmm23.-Pr&are3mdf@nt formM90remenbofmrfeso (tlg&24to%fnolnsfva) -/.0
SWlegend of flKRIW9. The@ of the frM shwmr departa hwm thn mean valuf
by a mtufmum of 02 percaot.
Logboy
evidence of a systematic difference. Comparison oi ‘xoumi25.-DMrlbutfonofmwm@, forz-WynoldsNnmkra W.MOandf@fW
figure 24 with figures 16 and 20 will emphasize the sei-fmO,plottedforconwarknwftbti b.mrtma @Mmtfon.
very great influence of the initial turbulence of the The contour diagram of the u-fluctuation is shown
wind tunnel on the veloci@ distribution and hence on n figure 26. The faired values from which the dia-
the skin friction. Only the measurements at th

L4x
v
2L-Dhtrfbntfonof meanM, mrksC, wfthPmmre~dfmt Offlm
FIOIJRE
23,mrbnlenmoffreastrmm,3.0permnt. Seelegendof@ma 1fornotatfom

Xnch station are in the laminar region. These tm FIOWEE 2&-Dfstrlbntfon of n-flnutrmtion, serk O, wfth pressure grodfent of ftgure

traverses agree well with the Bhwius distribution. 2& tnrbnlanca Of frw stmnr, 3.0 IWC’JUL See kaend of flsnm 13.

I?igure 25 shows the results of four traverses in th Yam wts prepsred are given in table IX. The region
eddying region at an z-Reynolds Number of approxi of mtium *fluctuation occurs at an z-Reynolds
mntely 435,oOOand one traverse at 888,000 plotted ti Number of about 200,000, corresponding nmghly to
the form suggested by equation (15). The four repea the middle of the transition region. In the eddying
356 REPORT NO. 562 NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMJTI’E E FOR AERONAUTICS

region the magnitude of the fluctuation is of the order called “turbtience”, the author denotes a flow with
of 4 or 5 percent of the mean speed as compared with the correlated type of fluctuations as “eddying” flow.
the free stream value of about 3 percent. Whether these particular names are generally adopted
or not, there should be some clear distinction by means
DISCUSSION
of ditTerautnames between fluctuations whose com-
Meaning of fluctuations in laminar region,-The ponents are uncorrelated and those which show corre-
distinction between laminar and eddying flow is usu- lation. Most experimenters would consider the flow
ally based on the nature of the variation of the skin in a von K6rm6n vortex street as highly turbulent,
friction with speed or on the nature of the speed dis- In the discussion at the Congress of Applied Me-
tribution as has been more fully discussed in the sec- chanics, it wcs pointed out that the fluctuations in the
tion on l?revioua Experhnental Work. The skin lmninar layer were, generally speaking, of lower fre-
friction and speed distribution in laminar flow are quency than the fluctuations in the eddying layer.
generally computed on the assumption of steady flow, At the time the measurements described in this paper
and the agreement between experimental resuliw and were made, a suitable oscillograph was not available.
theoretical calculations leads us to picture the laminar In 1934, after the Cambridge meeting, a plate was
flow near a plate as a steady flow. The experiments installed in the 4)&foot wind tunnel at the National
described in this paper cIearly show that the ccmcbion Bureau of Standards and records of the fluctucdions
is incorrect; the experiments together with the com- made with a cathode ray osciUograph. For conveni-
putations illushated in @u.rm 3 and 4 indicate that it ence, the flow was made more turbulent by a wire
.is possible to have large speed fluctuations with no screen of l-inch mesh placed about 4.6 feet upstream
measurable effect on the distribution of mean speed. from the plate. The u-fluctuation of the free stream
On the other hand, it has long been known that was approximately 1.3 percent of the mean speed,
‘eddying flow is characterized by fluctuations of speed gi~ titition at an mReynolds Number of about
at a given point and hence there is a temptation to 500,000. The pressure gadient was not detmmincd
Iidentiy speed fluctuations with turbulence. Here and the values of y were not accurately measured;
‘again the experiments described in this paper show hence these values are not comparable with the data
that large fluctuations are not ocmfined to the region reported in the preceding section. The records ob-
of eddying flow. It is not possible to determine by tained are shown, in part, in figure 27. They were not
measurement of amplitude of fluctuation alone whether made simultaneously. It is seen that the fluctuations
the flow is laminar or eddying. in the laminar region (position 2) are much less rapid
This result and a brief account of the measurements than those in the eddying region (position 5).
described in this paper were reported im the Fourth It should perhaps be pointad out that “slow” and
International Congress of Applied Mechanics at Cam- “fast” are in this connection purely relative terms, the
bridge, England, in 1934. Tollmien discussed this absolute magnitude of the rate of change of speed
account in reference 22 and emphasized by examples being a function of mean speed and of the thickness of
the importance of considering the correlation between the boundaxy layer. In any given flow, the distinc-
the several components of the velocity fluctuations. tion between laminar and eddying flow can be made
He says “In ordor to produce a shearing stress a oorre- on this basis, but in two d.ifTerentflows at widely
Mion is necessary between the components of the d.Merent speeds and with boundary layem of widely
velocity fluctuations in two diflerent directions. This different thicknes, the use of this simple criterion
is of course well known. But one has hithti fre- would not be safe.
quently regarded the mere existenoe of velocity fluc- In the hpinion of the author, the fluctuations in the
tuation as sufficiently characteristic of turbulence in laminar layer are to bo regarded as forced oscillations
the taoit expectation that a correlation between the produced by the turbulence of the wind-tunnel air
components of the fluctuations would be present. It stream. The qualitative distribution is very similar
is therefore n-my in general tc give the greatest to that computed in the highly simplified manner
attention to the correlation between any, even theo- described in the theoretical treatment of the transition
retical, velocity fluctuations which have been deter- and pictured in figure 4. Since, however, the distri-
mined, in order to be certain of the effect of the fluc- bution in the “free” oscillations as computed by
tuations on the form of the velocity distribution curve.” Schlichting (reference 23) is also of much the same
One of the iuterWimg examples in Tollmien’s paper is character, the general shape of the distribution curve
the von IG1.rm6nvortex street, which shows no corre- cannot serve as a criterion of whether the fluctuations
lation between the longitudinal and lateral components are forced or free.
of the velocity fluctuations. Transition from laminar to eddying flow,-l?igures
It maybe remarked that the fluctuations in the free 1, 10, 16, 20, and 24 show a gradual ti{tition region
stream of the wind tunnel are of this uncorreIated extending over a range of z-Reynolds Numbers of
type hwirg no influence on the distribution of mean 200,000 or more. It is very difEcuIt to state definitely
speed. Since these fluctuations have generally been where the transition begins. The departures from the
 50 Ft.\Sec. 5$
T
‘- o
Ill +/ 500

10°0
~1
.
--0
J- 10+
~v@’—’+t+/—+/ ..
Position 2 Magnified 4 times

1 Ft,– 400.
~/’
.
-0
1 40$

2 Ft.–
40%
.
T
--o
J- 407
3 Ft.–

4 Ft.–

Time State
}
5 Ft.– 0.1 Second
FIOUEE 27.-OdMgroph -da of u-fluotuatlon at eworel ~lnti nom a plate,
 —..—— .-

358 REPORT NO. 562 NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTICS

Blasius distribution begin earlier for speed contours
in the neighborhood of 0.4 or 0.5 than for the 0.9
contour. The layer begins to thicken rapidly at a
somewhat greater z-Reynolds Number than that at
which the speed near the surface begins to be accel-
erated. The character of the fit noticeable change
may perhaps best be seen in figure 8.
F~ea 22 and 26 show that the rate of increase of
the amplitude of the u-fluctuation is accelerated at an
z-Reynolds hTumber considerably lower than that for
which noticeable departures from the Blasius distri-
bution of mean speed occur.
Finally, iigure 27 shows that the transition is in fact
nate. In figure 28, the departures of the distribution
]f mean speed of figure 16 from the Blaaius distribu-
tion are plotted for the 0.4, 0.5, and 0.9 contours. The
mlue of the -Reynolds Number for tramdtion has
~een given as 1,100,000. It is obvious that signMcont
ieparturea occur at a somewhat lower wReynolds
Number for the 0.4 and 0.5 contours, perhaps as low
w 900,000 whereas the 0.9 contour does not show
&niiicant departures until 1,300,000.
The use of a Reynolds Number based on the “dis-
placementthickness” 6*, which equals
has often been suggested. A plot of 6*-Reynolds
J :(l–u/uo)dv,

a sudden phenomenon. Near the upstream limit of Number against -Reynolds Number, compared with a
the transition region, eddying flow occurs intermit- inilar plot of the 6*-Reynolds Number computed
tently at infrequent intervals, the flow bei.w of the born the Blasius distribution, k not found to give
time dear indications of transition, because the departure

Lid”
T

~z o 200 .4W 600 8LM @?O &2D0 ~4W

v -$
r
FmunEZ&-Depxrtumof L@ 0.4,0.S,an~us wnronnef =eanSVM3in _ 16
fKOmtile Bkhm @tiOll% The ordh@&lreln=mt the Olmmd @?Wrmld8 ?l(WBEB.—Th0 6*-ReynoMs Numk for the s3verd ti4s OfObSOHiltfO~
G8a
Ntrmbam forthem mntmr.ra Nmnlmwmputedfrom frmotirm of the equaro root ofthe &ReyMMs Nmnb+r. The transJtfon @ins nt
mfmmthe#-Reynelds
BIMirM’ mlntfonfora kninarlmmdary18ydr. thevahufndfmted bythoarrewe as defermfml from the dfslrfbutfon of man
-.

covered by the reoord. Near the do~ti~ limit,

1aminar flow occurs infrequently. ~om the Blasius distribution expressed as differences
The process may be pictured somewhat as follows: n y-Reynolds Number for a given speed are in one
Transition is a sudden phenomenon controlled by iirection for the 0.4 and 0.5 contours and in the oppo-
the instantaneous pressure distribution arising from ite direction for the 0.8 and 0.9 contours. The two
the turbulence of the free air stream. As the pressure &cti partly compensate and lead to only moderate
distribution fluctuates, the point of transition fluc- departuresof the 6*-Reynolds Number from the Blasius
tuates back and forth along the plate. At a giveD wsult, which are sometimes masked by experimental
point in the transition region the flow is sometimes 3rrors.
lmninar and sometimes edd@g—more frequently The comparison was made, however, and the results
Iaminar as the point of observation fi moved upstream =e given in figure 29. The values of the 6*-Reynolds
and more frequently eddying as the point’ is moved Number were computed by Simpson’s rule from the
downstream. Since the turbulence of the free stream bid milues simd.m to those of table VII. Between
is constant only in a statistical sense, there is a point ihe lowest value of u/U. (0.3 in table VII) and zero, a
of transition only in a statistical sense. The designa- inesx interpolation was used. The transition points
tion of the Reynolds Number at which transition occurs ire indicated in figure 29 by axrows. The points for
becomes then a matter of definition. ihe preliminary observations of series A show the
No entirely satisfactory definition has been found. ~pparentsystematic error of about 400 in the value of
The values quoted can be regarded only as appro.xi- VoU/V . to which reference has previously been made.
 AIR FLOW IN THE BOUNDARY
If correction is made for this shift, the 6*-Reynolds
Number at transition appears to be about 2,2oo.
Serk B shows a somewhat earlier transition than
series D as may also be seen from a careful examination
of figure 16 and figure 20. In view of the diflicuhiw of
mmsurement, the results may be averaged to give a
6*-Reynolds Number of about 1,700.
The curves for series A, B, and D show a bending
fiway from the Blasius curve toward lower values with
approach to slowly changing i$*-ReynoldsNumber with
increasing z-Reynolds Number. This deflection is fol-
lowed for seriesB by a rapid increase. The same effects
are not marked for the series C observations. From
figure 24, it is clear that transition begins at an
wReynolds Number of about 100,000 corresponding
to a 6*-Reynolds Number of about 560. No per-
ceptible departure of the 6*-Reynolds Number curve
in figure 29 from the Bias.iuscurve occurs until much
higher values.
It is possible ti suggest an unambiguous detition
of the Reynolds N] [mber of transition; for example, that
for which the 0.4 contour deviates from the theoretical
131asius position by a y-Reynolds Number of 100.
But so long as the effects of experimental errors com-
bined with the effects of unavoidable departures from
the uniform pressure rwsu&d in the theory are of the
order of 300 or 400, accurate determinations cannot be
made in accordance with such a definition.
I?t7eotof turbulence.-lk the experiments of van der
Hegge Zijnen and of H-n, the turbulence of the
air stream was not measured, no method then being
known. From the dimensions of the honeycombs and
their location and published data (for example, that in
reference 17), wo may estimate that the turbulence
was between 1 and 2 percent. The corresponding
r.Reynolds Number for transition was about 300,000,
and the ti*-Reynolds Number for transition about 940.
The experiments described in this paper give the
following remdts:
L
T ‘*G~&&
The available data do not suflice to construct a well-
clefined curve such as that established for the relation
between the critical Reynolds Number of a sphere and
the turbulence (reference 18). - Nevertheless, there is
little doubt that such a relation exists. The effect of
turbulence is obviously very great. It is believed
that the evidence presented supports the view that in
an air stream of approximately uniform static pressure
and for a smooth plate with sharp leading edge, the
z-Reynolds Number for transition is a function of the
turbulence varying from about 1,100,000 to 100,000.
lMeot of pressure gradient.-The preliminary series
of experiments showed that the effect of a pr-~ure
0
LAYER NEAR A PLATE 359
gradient such as shown in ligure 9 was to increase the
z-Reynolds Number for transition in a stream of
turbulence 0.5 percent from 1,100,000 to 1,800,000.
The chaqge in the 6*-Reynolds Number is, not so
definitely established in view of the apparent systematic
error in the preliminary series, but the author believes
that with the pressure gradient the ~*-Reynolds Num-
ber was increased from 1,700 to about 2,200; in other
words, approximately in the same ratio as the square
roots of the z-Reynolds Numbers.
The effect of an accelerating pressure -gradient is
then to delay the transition. This effect does not
contradict the picture of the mechanism of tramition
described in the theoretical treatment, for the addi-
tion of a steady accelerating pressure gradient to tho
fluctuating pressure gradients of the turbulence of the
air stream would reduce the magnitude of the instanta-
neous retarding gradients and hence delay separation.
It is interesting to speculate on the effect of an acceler-
ating gradient so large as to suppress entirely the
retarding gradients in the fluctuations. A fundfi-
mental investigation of the effect of pressure gradient
with constant turbulence is urgently needed. It is
desirable that such experiments be made with both
low and high degree of turbulence in the air stream.
Speed distribution in eddying region.-From the
slopes of the lines in figure 18 and von Kdrndn’s
value, 0.4, of the universal constant k, tho local friction
coeflioient maybe comput6d according to equation (15).
The values obtained are 0.0076 and 0.0057, respec-
tively, which are unreasonably high.
Similarly the slopes of the lines in figure 25 gi~e
values of the local skin-friction coefficient computed
from equation (15) for k=O.4 of 0.0057 and 0.0062
which again are unreasonably high. From mm K6r-
mhn’s table (reference 16) values of the order of 0.0045
and 0.0038 would be expected. Such a large diiferance
is not accounted for by any reasonable assumption as
to the errom in the velocity determinations. Applica-
tion of the still-air heat-loss correction would increase
the discrepancy.
The expkmation of the discrepancy is that in the
thin boundary layer nearly all stations are aufliciently
near the wall that the effects of viscosi@ cannot be
neglected, the y-Reynolds Numbers being less than
4,000.
Since no independent determination of local sliin-
fi-iction coefficients w= possible in the present experi-
ments, no direct comparison can be made. It is of
interest, however, to estimate the local skin-friction
coefficients Cfhorn von Ktirrmin’s table and to plot the
distributions of figures 18 and 25 with ~ ‘~ as ordi-
()
Qj.iu
nab ~d loglo ~ ~Oas abscksa. This has been done
()
in figure 30. The solid curve is that determined by
von JM.rmAnfrom Niku.radse’s measurements in Tipes.
h the estimation of Cj, the Reynolds Number used was
360 REPORT NO. 562 NATIONAL
that obtained by assuming the eddying layer to begin
at the beginning of the transition region.
The measurements with artificial turbulence lie
about 4 mrcent above von K6rm6n’s curve but sensiblv
rmrallel.’
. On the other hand. the measurements wit~
very small turbulence in the & stream show a difkirent
slope. The exact signi&ance of this d.ifferauce is noi
clear. The speed fluctuation at the center of a pipe in
which the flow is eddying is of the order of that at the
outer edge of the boundary layer in the pxperimenix
with artificial turbulence. The observations now
,?0
16
12
alb”
F&
8 9. Pohlbausen, K.: Zur nilherungmveiaen integration der
4
0 .4 .8
gm L&&
H2V
FIauzE W.-Dk&lbution of nwan sped in eddying
K$.rmAn’s forrnuk The data ma thcm zhown
triotbntiaknt C/, h *ted by drmmirqthattheeddgfng_
available are too few to be certain that the shape oi
the speed-distribution curve near a plate is actually a
function of the turbulence of the stream, as suggested
by figure 30.
CONCLUSION
The intensive study of the boundary-layer flow near
rLthin flat plate promises to yield considerable informa-
tion as to the origin of eddying flow and the tiect of
turbulence in wind-tunnel experiments. The informa- 6. Nikuradsa,J.: Esperimentelle
tion now available shows that the velocity field varies
greatly with the turbulence of the air stream, and with 7. Dryden,HughL.: Reductionof Turbulencein Wind Tun-
the pressure gradient. The Reynolds Number at
which transition occurs in a stieam without pressure
gradient decreasesgreatly as the turbulence is increased.
The presence of fluctuations is not an indication of
the presence of eddy shearing stresses. The lamin.ar 9. Mock, W. C., Jr., and Dryden, H. L.: Improved Apparatus
layer shows speed fluctuations of amplitude cotider-
ably greater than that in the free stream. These
fluctuations do not produce departures from the theo-
retical Blasius distribution for laminar flow. They
me of lower frequency than the fluctuations in the
eddying boundary layer.
Transition is a sudden phenomenon, but the petit of
transitionmoves backandforthtithin ratherwidel.irnits. 2. Tolhnien, W.: Uber die Correlation der Geachwindigkeits-
NATIONAL BUREAUOF STANDARDS,
WASHINGTON, D. C., March 1936.
ADVISORY COMblllTE E FOR AERONAUTICS
REFERENCES
1. Prandtl, L.: Motions of Fluids with Very Little Viscosity,
T. M. No. 452, N. A. C. A., 1928.
2. Blasius, H.: Grenzsehichten in Fltiasigkeiten mit kleiner
Reibung. Z. f. Math. u. Phys., Band 56, Nr. 1, 100S,
s. 1-37.
3. van der Hegge Zijnen, B. G.: Measurement of the Ve-
locity Distribution in the Boundary Layer along a Plane
Surface. Report 6, Aoro. Lab. Tech. H. S., Delft, 1924.
4. Hansen, M.: Velooity Distribution in the Boundary Layer
of a Submerged Plate. T. M. No. 585, N. A. U. A., 1930.
5. ~fiti, Franz: The Transference of Heat from o Hot Plate
ta an Air Stream. T. M. No. 614, N. A. C. A., 1931.
6. von K&mu@ Tlu Turbulence and Skin Friotion. Jour.
Aero. Sci., January 1934, pp. 1-20.
7. Dryden, H. L., and Kuethe, A. M.: The Measurement of
Fluctuation of Air Speed by the Hot-Wire Anemometer.
T. R. No. 320, N. A. C. A., 1929.
8. Runga, C., and K5rdg, H.: Numerisohes Reahnen. Julius
Springer (Berlin), 1924, p. 311.
Differentialgleichung der Iaminaren Grensohiohk Z. f. a.
M. M., Band I, Nr. 4, 1921, S. 252.
10. Falkner, V. M., and Skan, Sylvia W.: Some Approximate
Solutions of the Boundary Layer Equations. R. & M.
No. 1314, British A. R. C., 1930.
20 24 2.8
11. Dryden,Hugh L.: Computationof the Tm-Dimensional
mow in a LaminarBoundaryLayer. T. R. No. 497,
region for mm-n with N. A. C. A., 1934.
in flgom TheW
18 and 2.5.
12.von K4rm4n,~, and Mill&an,C. B.: On the Theoryof
at th
LaminarBoundaryLayersinvolvingSeparation. T. R.
No. 604,N. A. C. A., 1934.
13.Tolhnien,W.: The Productionof Turbulence. T. M. No.
609,N. A. C. A., 1931.
14.Schliohtiig, H.: Zur Entstehumgder Turbulenzbei der
Plattenstrbmung.Nach. &sell. d. Wh. z. GMt, M. P.
K,, 1933,S. 181.
5. Tolhnien, W.: Generalinstability Criterionof Lamfnar
VelooityDistribution. T. M. No. 792,N. A. C. A., 1936.
Untereuchungen mr Turbu-
Ienzentatehung.Z. f. a M. M., Band 13, 1933,S. 174.
nels- T. R. No. 392, N. A. C. A., 1931.
8. Dryden, H. L., and Kuethe, A. M.: Effect of Turbulence in
Wind Tunnel Mewmrementi. T. R. No. 342, N. A. C. A.
1930.
for the M easurement of Fluctuations of Air Speed in
Turbulent Flow. T. R. No. 448, N. A. C. A,, 1932.
0. Piercy, N. A. V., and Richardson, E. G.: On the Flow of
Air Adjacent to the Surfaco of an Aerofoil. R. & M.
No. 1224, British A. R. C., 1928.
1. Schubauer, G. B.: Air FloTv in a Separating Laxninar
Boundary Layer. T. R. No. 527, N. A. C. A., 1936.
komponenten in penodisch schwankenden Wirbelverteil-
ungen. Z. f. a. M. M., Band 16, 1935, S. 96.
3. Schlichting, H.: Amplitudonverteilung und Energiebilanz
der kleinen Sthangen bei der Plattenstrfimung. Nach.
GeselL d. Wks. s. G6tt., M. P. K., Band I, 1936, S. 47.
 AIR FLOW IN THE BOUNDARY LAYER NEAR A PLATE

TABLE I

SOLUTION OF BLASIUS EQUATION FOR FLOW IN A LAMINAR BOUNDARY LAYER

x z a
a:
.2
amk
.69!337
–a d
–. 01M7
0:&: actd
.lm
Cm&
. S316
-ad’
–.mo
.3 . ‘w551 “-. 04478 . Mm .1312 .mm –. Cm2
.4 .ftma –. 07m7 .7278 .2410 .3!2%5 -.0144
.6 .97940 –. 12317 .3m3 .3261 –.m
.6 .96470 -. 173a4 i Z7 .35%3 .3203 –. 0316
.7 .M4B3 –. mm2 L m .4170 .3137 –. Wal
.8 .91em –. 99147 ~ 45m .4733 .m –. mm
.S36z3 –. W467 L W% .:~ .M43 –. M47
i; .34763 –. 41ms .2315 –. 0761
L1 .s0206 -.47647 $ K4 . mm .!X&a –. mm
~: . 75n6 –. ml ‘21%!3 .6772 .ZXnl -. mo2
.M764 -. m352 2W3 .7210 . B17 –. lfm
1.4 .M325 –.M316 2 E472 .7614 . 21m -. lQM
L5 .57m5 –. 617f5 27292 :~ . mm -.1127
L6 . 516M –. m 29111 .1714 –.lIM
L7 .46462 –. 61040 a m31 .WM . 15M –. 1114
1.8 . 3W6 –. 5M33 L nfo .3532 .1310 –. 1071
.33761 -.55221 3.4m9 .W3 .1121 –. 1M3
:; . WI -. WM 3.wa .9271 .M44 –. Mia
21 .’Bm3 –. 4b%55 3.8XK3 .9423 -. fm7
!22 .l!wm –. 40402 4.m2a . m57 :% -. m
23 .lwd –. 3M2a 4 ls47 .Wm –. mm
%4 .12z72 –. 23M4 4.3m7 . 974s .04m -. w
25 .m557 –. 24672 Lfwo .&all . cB17 -. Ofm
26 .0732a -. m 4.7705 .mm . oa43 –. f!367
27 .m5m –. M&52 4.9125 .mm . Olm –. 0233
28 .Wfm –. 12576 hQM4 .mm ;&w –. 0230
.0zw6 –. m h 2764 .6931 : g;
:: . W43 –. 072m h45E3 .W10 . m71
*1 . 0W3 -. C&04 &04m .9)77 .mm -. m
X2 . Olcw –. 0W9 S.&m .mm .03?3 –. m
3.3 . m717 –. 02785 &mt2 .9920 :% -. WI
3.4 .M4s2 -. 01%57 e+lml .mm -. m
36 . mm -.01346 &mm .Wd6 . WJll -. m25
3.6 –. m3m ek5wJ .M97 .0Xt7 –. m17
3.7 :W –. m303 & 7319 .WUS .Owt –. mll
K8 .m -. mm 6. 91W .s%9 .m -. frw
19 . ml -. M251 7. 0E56 .Mm –. w
4.0 . ml –. WM3 ~mg i%% . ml –. OXcl
4.1 . C0119 –. M?a7 ------- . ml –. m
4.2 . Imll –. w 7: e417 o –. ml
4.3 .m –. m -------- -------- –. ml
44 .OXw –. ml am -------- -------- o
4.5 .m –. MI12 & 137b -------- -------- --. -. —..-
h2 o o 9.4611 ..-.-.. . .-. -.—. ..........

CALIBRATIONS OF WIRE N18 ON OCT. 14, 1930 DETERMINATION OF MEAN SPEED FOR x=23
INCHES, U,= 105.2 IT./SEC. ON OCT. 14, 1930
Bs@nnfng End

BEE TAELE If FOR DATA ON WIRE. SEE FIGURE 7FOR

RmManm ofwfm and I&M@ R+R., ohms--.-- ....... 5.S2S &w CALIBRA’ITON OURVR
Reskkanca ofkadnj R,,Ok--. -.-... -.–-..--..-.--—
Rm&kmm of Mm, RG ok------------------------- i E3 4%!
Tee:eytim? g~
“o--------------------------------------- ?& voltage :3
prmsxw fnHa--------------------------- . R RO
Obnls ohms
*
R–RO & ftj”k?c $
(R?%.)
Heatfng
@m’rent
0.2amfmraRcu-O.01M3.
m a 015 LM2 9.310 L42 29.4 a23u
m.5 .Om 1.765 6.625 o.19 3a3 .334
FIRST C7ALIBEATION 29.6 :% L720 aooo 43.8 .417
29.6 3.2W ;E 520 .494
m.o .040 t% 3.010 &15 e-24 .M2
$; .Cwl L&d 7.333 8.76 70.5 .723
.005 L 529 7.646 9.45 ~: ;g
3Q0 .mo 7.CAo 9.91
S(Lo . lm k 4? 7.496 10.13 I@. 6 .flio
.130 L493 7.40s 10.m lo&3 L ml
a lW 7.745 a mm
%: .lm L4Q0 7.4JXI [a 36 107.6 L024
‘2%5 ~: 7.52 30.0 .224 :. 7.4EJI 10.36 107.6 LM4
H%! 8.010 7.WI .-:-:.- .WISQ9 7.465 lm26 106.
s L ml
. m13 30.0 LM5
29.0 7.57 &% LMl 7.MS 7.3@
I I ,,
827 9.@J L53S 7.690 7.245 ---.---- .Oomm
20,0 L51 7. ml 7. lun --------- . M213S
1%: 1:% L 4’W 7. 4W 7. mu -------- . m2221
29.0 113.9 la M L 474 7.371 6.925 —-..-.. . W2310

SEOOND 0AL7EBATION

33.0 lm. 2 la 25 L 402 7.4fJl 7.014 4. W7 : ~;

ml. 1 la 05 7.525 7oie --------
30.0 90.8 9.52 kE 7.ls4 ..------ .ooz143
Sz; 9.10 1.540 :!% 7.2s4 ------- .Cums6
30,0 &44 L5M 7.915 7.469 ------- .001972
Sal 7.02 LM7 3.135 7. m ------- . ools45
——.. ———’ -.—— .—

362 REPORT NO. 662 NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMPMXE FOR AERONAUTICS

TABLE IV TABLE VI
RENJLTS OF TABLE III CORRECTED FOR HEAT LOSS LESULTS OF TABLE V CORRECTED FOR HEAT LOSS
TO PLATE ON BASIS OF STIZL AIR CORRECTION TO PLATE ON BASIS OF STILL AIR CORRECTION

WIRE LENW17H-O.342 INCH. K-O.WI m) w436

WIRE LENGTH 0.342 IKOHES KE&Md W W434
?-la
In&a —.
G R.&. % 1 2 3 4 s 6 7 8
0 c.
column
O.ols du,
.Om F%:
~ 4.X3
5.93 %:
o
.=1 Qm
in& G. +.$ dE
Volta To
.023

:3% 177’.2 157. I

M
&os
4L
49.8
.Sm
.473
.616
2 la. % .716
:%!
.am 12a7
ml
8.68
9.=
9.8s
ao
97.0
.s36 o.Ols km
5.!XJ
3-69
Z72
:&m IL427
.2s9
o.m6
.6057
:%% .215 .W38
. ml Ea.o la 09 10L 8 :E IL40
M :IiE ,1612 .0763
$&l Hi!
. la lm 1 m. 25 .Cml
IO&o
. Ml m. 35 107.5 i~ 4.39 .0171 .0761 .0463
R: m. 35 107.5 L~ &69 4.e3 .0122 .0m5 .04M
i% WI o 10. % lm 3 LW .CEM R2S 4.96 .04m .M1O
.m s. 15 :%% .0403 . 04n
.m 1:1% h2’3 . M?S .0424
.133 .mm
BLE V
.180 la 25
m. 25
la 36
:Z
h 81
:=
.m3m .0191
.0141
.Wo7
.0195
; &14
i% lo. m h27 :%% . ml
DETERMINATION OF SPEED FLUCTUATION FOR
z=23 INCHES, UO= 105.2 FT./SEC. ON OCT. 14, 1930
TABLE VII
SEE TABLE II FOR DATA ON TVIRE, TABLE III FOR MEAN
SPEED, FIG. 7 FOE CALIBRATION CURVE PAIRED VALUES FOR z=23 INCHES, UO= 1062 FT./SEU.

Averw6 tomwtum W C. Prwsnra !K@3 Inohca Hg

—1
Y.o.m1732 ftqseu. ~-l,wol
2 3 4 616 7 8

Im$losJ= (3)+(4) 2 ‘o
G (v%)xdu z
u
h%
VW
T
lm~ ~ J#

— —
0.015 &42 aa o. OIM 1! 0. Olm 641
6.19 .4 .OzJ1 1, ?4 .W37
:E . owl Lsm 8 .6ZW 1: z
.WJ1 :x :: .0378 u 916 .as:o 1,.570
.04m Zsn i .6327
:&l kg :: .mm &sm 5 .0m7 :E
.m.s 9.45 .0.57 2W
.Om 9.91 .9 .0727 AW2 4
.110 h 676
.lm 10.13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..-. —--- 3 .122 & 6W
m. 23 .. ——. .. —- ——. - ---------- 2 .179 9,070
:% m. 3a 1 w
10.36
i% 10. m
 AIR FLOW IN TBIl BOUNDARY LAY13R NEAR A PLATE

TABLE VIII
I/-REYNOLDS NUMBERS CORRESPONDING TO VARIOUS VALUES OF u-FLUCTUATION USED
IN PLOTTING FIGURE 22

z-Reynolds Ncmhr
14

loaml 260$w &17w31 m bmwl Smm3 SeXwl Ilsmm llm Ilm

— — — . . . .

lid.. .__._.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..- . . . . . . . . . . . . ,. ______ -----. .-— -------- ---------- ---------- ._ -. ___ .—---- }M70
10. 6. . . ..__- ---------- ---------- ----------- ---------- ---------- ---------- --------- ----. ---– ~g .-.-.--- 1830

m, o.__.. _----------- ---------- ----------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ~~ 7@l 13$4 1410
I
9.6. __ . . . . . ---------- ---------- ----------- ---------- --------- ---------- ---------- lm m.o
1%
m
9. o..–.__.---------- ---------- ----------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- 14.9)
1
llea Lm
& 6..
----------------- ---------- ----------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- mm %% m 17W
so–-..- . . ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- 1770 1730 1421
7.6..–_...- ---------- ---------- ----------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ~ 1670 mm
7.0.. __ . . . . ---------- ---------- ----------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- lwl
0.6. --.. . . ---------- ---------- ----------- ---------- --------- ---------- ---------- 2270 %? llm Z2M

&a . . . . . . . . . ---------- --------- ----------- ---------- ---------- -:-------- ---------- “m 21E41 16al mm

E.6.___... ---------- ---------- ----------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ‘z#l m 1910 tw4
:g ~
ho.. _____ ---------- ---------- --------- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..- 3X4 m lm 0410 04m
4.6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..-
[ Ia 1
..-—---- ---------- ---------- . . . . . . . ..- 3670 {~ m W 0940
4. o.._..__ ---------- --------- IS70 -------- .......... .......... ---------- 41S0 6403 6670 7040 7bal
3. 6... _..._ ---------- ---------- m --------- . . . . . . . ..- . . . . . . . ..- ----...--- 4w3
1010 Ilw
3. o______ ---------- ..-.––-. 2140 ---------- .......... 1S?-0 . . . . . . . ..- 5351
lKII J*-- }
1170
Z6._._.._

20._ . . . .._
{g

Im
}_...--

.--. -.-.–
!zXa3

m
. . . . . . . ..-

-..-----.-
........ .

m
I l%’ 1
m

31W
. . . . . . . . ..-

. . . . . . . . . . . ---------
7170 770

m
Iom

llml
I IW60

lllm
L6.._ ..__ 1Iw m m { ;g g }fi S3Xl ----------- --–-–- 112W lzno w
LO______ Lw 131w m 31m 4593 ---...----- _-_---.- —- —--- . w l%?-W

l.NotmndderwI, bmanmmtmnmrdent withrepwtmrm

 REPORT NO. 562 NATIONAL ADVISORY COMWTPD13 FOR AERONAUTICS

TABLE IX

IPREYNOLDS NUMBERS CORRESPONDING TO VARIOUS VALUES OF u-FLUCTUATION USED

IN PLOT”IYNG FIGURE 26

I z-Remolds Nmahr
KQd&
EfLm)lnm 1M1OO IM4w Zlm Zm2m 439M0 m?zm
I I . — — .
&o-----------
7.6-----------
--------
––––.-
---------
-------
~
:
II--------
-------- —--------—----------------
-------- ---------- --------- .-......
7. o_____ --_––-- .---------
[ ~ 1}---------1----------1
--------
0. 5_______ --------- {g
2)5
!--------l----------l
---------
1—-------
----------
.......-
% Is’ To
265

III
e.o_______ ––.––. %
=-5 .----— i%
—--.-——-
—.--—.—————E%
215 10N 310
E.5-----------

‘i
.-.–––.

O------- ..--–––
1%
——.
–—--–
- -— --—..
z
m
-m-
~
Pnn

.55
1: E26
=
460

233
-------- --------

. . . . . . . . . .- . . . . . .
—---- ---- —..- U
_ .. --.-— E
Il–—-—-+ ---------l d .——. - 1
4.6------ .—––– Z3@l 2730 w 28W

b z“
d% g K%
336
4. o-.--.–- ~g 4s40
4% 7=
—-- ----- -— ------
3.5.–------- ~d~ am 4m 6645
[m 114s0 4-%%
1 o_–.-.–.-- 375 ----------.––— .-.––-. .— —.. ---------- .......... la5
[

uO-e5.6 ftbn

z-Rwndds Nmnixr

I&xol Im5m !m2al Z#mlzmca 3smlo4m b9w3371@XOwc@3

— —
7.5-_–_-– —–-–- -------- -—— %’ ---——.-. -.—.-, -------- .-. —---- .......... .........- -------
7.0-------- -------- ---------
235
3%s
425
——
----
-—---—-
---. —----.—---- ------—... ......
.-.-—.-..........
.........-
..........
---------
----------
--------
--------
‘b
&5.-__ –_.- ------- ------–- 435 SW

&a______ --------- -—––- s la 24131, —.—-.. -------- ---------- ---------- ....... .. --------
MS
&5-____– ---------- 2
mm
600
11s5
E —.
...... ----------
.......... --------
{ lmo i%%

%2 ......... ----------
.......... { M%

1=
s.o------ –-.––– 1% %! l%%’
ZIIo
m
4.s------- g E w4 4100 6195 { ~:g ~~
{ %$ }fi }
W70
4.L______ m 405s W70 .s333 eon ~o { % l%% 14u30 lb!%
S6w mm -. .-—.- 7W0 weal Im { ~~y }~ { Iw%
‘---–--+------l -