PHYSICS OF FLUIDS VOLUME 13, NUMBER 12 DECEMBER 2001

Interaction of Stokes boundary layer flow with a sound wave

Eduardo Ramos,a) Sergio Cuevas, and Guadalupe Huelsz
Centro de Investigación en Energı́a, UNAM, A. P. 34, Temixco, Mor. 62580, México
共Received 13 February 2001; accepted 7 September 2001兲
We analyze the interaction of a standing sound wave with the flow generated by the oscillation of
a plate in its own plane 共Stokes second problem兲. The sound wave acts in the direction transverse
to the plate and it is considered that the plate oscillation and the sound wave have the same
frequency but a nonzero relative phase. The sound wave induces a modification of the axial velocity
that consists of two parts, an oscillation with twice the frequency of the plate oscillation and a steady
streaming that persists beyond the Stokes boundary layer, resulting in a double boundary layer
structure. This mechanism for generating steady streaming differs from those studied previously in
the literature. The relative phase of the two oscillatory motions determines the direction of the net
flow. The direction of the steady streaming far away from the plate, coincides with the direction of
the displacement of the plate at the moment of maximum compression and is proportional to the
velocity of the plate at this moment. © 2001 American Institute of Physics.
关DOI: 10.1063/1.1415425兴

I. INTRODUCTION that identify the attenuation of the mechanical energy of the

Interest in the interaction of compressible waves with
motion that can be described as the flow of an incompress-
ible fluid can be traced back to the 19th century. A curious
phenomenon described by Leconte1 in 1858 共see Tritton2兲
consisted on the effect of sound waves produced by a musi-
cal instrument which was noted to modulate the flame of a
gas burner in the concert room. Presently, a well established
theory on the interaction of sound waves with shear flows far
away from rigid walls has been developed due to its impor-
tance in the propagation of sound in the atmosphere or the
ocean 共see Lighthill3兲. The interaction of sound waves with
free shear layers was studied by Tam4 who was able to solve
the perturbation equations and developed a method to deter-
mine the amplitudes of induced instability waves under the
influence of arbitrary sound waves. He also applied his
method to analyze the excitation of Tollmien–Schlichting
waves in boundary layer flows by incident sound waves
propagating in the direction of a free stream.5 His results are
consistent with experimental observations. A numerical
method to study the effect of free stream sound on parabolic
bodies was devised by Haddad and Corke.6 They studied the
mechanisms by which sound enters the boundary layer and
excite Tollmien–Schlichting waves. That study displays the
effect of bluntness on leading edge receptivity.
In many cases, the effect of sound waves on the flow can
be considered small. However, there are situations where this
interaction may be of great importance. For instance, when
flows are close to conditions of instability or when the phe-
nomenon of acoustic streaming appears. Acoustic streaming
was described by Lord Rayleigh7 as the generation of a net
flow by a purely oscillatory motion. Modern general theories
a兲
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Electronic mail:
eramos@servidor.unam.mx
oscillatory motion of the fluid, caused by friction, as the
source of steady streaming have been developed by
Westervelt,8 Nyborg9 and Lighthill,3,10 among others. The
attenuation can take place in the body of the fluid or near
solid boundaries. Referring to this last case, in the examples
analyzed so far in the literature, the streamwise velocity
should be a function of the axial coordinate. Landmark stud-
ies were made by Rayleigh7 who dealt with standing acoustic
waves and Schlichting11 who developed a now classical
theory of the nonlinear analysis of streaming in incompress-
ible oscillatory boundary layers near curved walls. A recent
review on this topic can be found in a paper by Cuevas and
Huelsz.12 When oscillatory flows occurs near rigid walls, at-
tenuation is strong and the streaming may play a major role
in transport processes. Even when the externally imposed net
flow is zero, acoustic streaming may be effective in acceler-
ating certain kind of rate processes. For instance, it may gen-
erate heat and mass transfer enhancement,13,14 which may be
of interest for some physiological applications.15
The problem we study here is a modification of the clas-
sical Stokes second problem 共also known as Rayleigh prob-
lem兲 where a flow of a semi-infinite viscous fluid is gener-
ated by an oscillating plate. We assume that compressible
waves are allowed to exist only in the transversal direction
and, in order to simplify the analysis, we also assume that
these waves are of very small amplitude 共sound waves兲. The
physical situation studied can be conversely stated as the
analysis of the Stokes second problem with a perturbation of
a transversal sound wave.
II. PROBLEM FORMULATION
The physical situation we analyze here consists of the
interaction of a sound wave generated far away from the
plate with a flow originated by the oscillatory displacement
of an infinite flat plate in its own plane. We consider the flow

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3710 Phys. Fluids, Vol. 13, No. 12, December 2001 Ramos, Cuevas, and Huelsz

chosen so that a sound wave with a horizontal wave front

FIG. 1. Sketch of the physical situation considered. The acoustic standing
wave is schematically drawn using different gray levels.
in the two-dimensional space defined by the direction of the
plate oscillation (x-direction兲 and the transverse direction
(y-direction兲. This situation is sketched in Fig. 1. We are
assuming that there are no motion or gradients in the direc-
tion perpendicular to the xy-plane. We further assume that
the mass density, ␳, the pressure, p, the temperature, T, and
the axial and transversal components of velocity, u and v ,
respectively, are only functions of the transversal coordinate
y and time. Since we are interested in analyzing conditions
where the motion in the transversal direction is of an acous-
tic origin, we consider that ␳ ⫽ ␳ o ⫹ ␳ ⬘ , v ⫽ v ⬘ , p⫽ p o ⫹ p ⬘
and T⫽T o ⫹T ⬘ where ␳ o , p o and T o are time-average den-
sity, pressure and temperature and the primed variables are
small perturbations in the sense that their products can be
neglected. Under these considerations, the two-dimensional
flow of a compressible fluid is described by the following set
of conservation equations:
⳵␳ ⬘ ⳵v⬘
⫹␳o ⫽0,
⳵t ⳵y
exists there. This can be defined as a cyclic boundary condi-
tion where we can set the conditions at distances n ␲ /k from
the plate, with k a constant denoting the wave number of the
sound wave. Since we are mostly interested in the phenom-
ena that occur close to the plate, for purposes of specification
we choose v ⬘ (y⫽ ␲ /k,t)⫽ v m e i( ␻ o t⫹ ␸ ) , where v m is the am-
plitude of the wave and must be a small quantity; ␻ o is the
frequency and ␸ is the phase of the sound wave relative to
the wall velocity oscillation 共see Fig. 1兲. Notice that ␸⬎0
implies that the sound motion runs ahead of the plate oscil-
lation.
From the set of governing equations, it can be readily
observed that ␳⬘, v ⬘ , p ⬘ and T ⬘ can be calculated indepen-
dently of u. Physically, this means that under the approxima-
tions described above, the transversal motion 共acoustic
wave兲 is not affected by the axial motion produced by the
oscillating plate, but this flow can be modified by the trans-
versal motion. This property indicates an obvious strategy of
integration: solve for the transversal motion and then insert
the information in the x-momentum equation to obtain the
axial velocity.
The equations that describe the motion in the y-direction
are essentially those of a damped sound wave. The effect of
viscosity can be expected to be important if the fluid dis-
placements due to the wave motion take place in the vicinity
of a rigid boundary and tangent to it, or if the distance trav-
eled by the wave is considerably larger than the wavelength.
Since neither of the two apply in the case we are considering,
it is reasonable to expect that the viscous term will not be
important and will be neglected from Eq. 共3兲. The mass and
momentum equations that describe the motion in the trans-
versal direction, coupled with the assumption that the propa-
gation of small compressible perturbations is isentropic,
yield one-dimensional wave equations for v ⬘ and ␳⬘. A solu-
共1兲
tion to the resulting equation for v ⬘ that satisfies the zero

冉 冊
velocity condition at the rigid boundary (y⫽0) and the
⳵u ⳵u ⳵u ⳵ 2u boundary condition at y⫽ ␲ /k is
␳o ⫹v⬘ ⫹␳⬘ ⫽␮ 2 , 共2兲
⳵t ⳵y ⳵t ⳵y
⬘ sin共 ky 兲 e i( ␻ o t⫹ ␸ ) .
v ⬘⫽ v m 共5兲
⳵v⬘ ⳵p⬘ ␮ ⳵ v⬘ 2
␳o ⫽⫺ ⫹ , 共3兲 This expression describes a standing wave with a veloc-
⳵t ⳵y 3 ⳵y2 ity node at y⫽0. In a similar way, ␳⬘ can be obtained, yield-
ing
⳵T⬘ ⳵ 2T ⬘ ⳵p⬘
␳ oC p ⫽␬T ⫹ ␤ T , 共4兲 ␳ o v m⬘
⳵t ⳵y2
T o
⳵t
␳ ⬘ ⫽⫺ cos共 ky 兲 e i( ␻ o t⫹ ␸ ) , 共6兲
c
where ␮ , C p , ␬ T and ␤ T are the dynamical viscosity, heat
capacity, thermal conductivity and thermal expansion coeffi- where c⫽ 冑( ⳵ p o / ⳵␳ o ) S is the speed of sound. Evidently,
cient. These equations should be supplemented with a state once the perturbation p ⬘ is obtained from the isentropic re-
equation which needs not to be specified at this stage. lation p ⬘ ⫽( ⳵ p o / ⳵␳ o ) S ␳ ⬘ , T ⬘ can be calculated using Eq.
The nonslip condition at the plate indicates that the u 共4兲.
component of the velocity is the real part of u(0,t) Since the velocity of the fluid due to the acoustic wave
⫽U w e i ␻ t , where U w is the amplitude of the plate oscillation described by Eq. 共5兲 is independent from the axial flow de-
and ␻ is its frequency. In turn, the normal velocity at the scribed by Eq. 共2兲, the frequencies of the two motions can be
plate must vanish, i.e., v ⬘ (0,t)⫽0. Far away from the plate it different and its relative phase is unrestricted. The acoustic
is expected that the motion generated by the plate oscillation wave can be generated by an external device like a vibrating
dies out, resulting in the condition u(y→⬁,t)⫽0. The membrane of a loudspeaker located in a region far away
boundary condition for the transversal velocity at large dis- from the plate and the plate motion can be generated by an
tances from the plate in the perpendicular direction must be independent mechanical system. Not all possibilities for the

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Phys. Fluids, Vol. 13, No. 12, December 2001
location of the loudspeaker are allowed, though. Once the
sound wave frequency ␻ o has been chosen, the y-position is
fixed by the relation y⫽2 ␲ /k⫽2 ␲ c/ ␻ o .
III. DETERMINATION OF THE AXIAL MOTION
The axial motion, described by Eq. 共2兲, is conveniently
expressed in terms of the following dimensionless variables:
⬘ and D⫽ ␳ ⬘ / ␳ o , where
Y ⫽y ␤ , ␶ ⫽t ␻ , U⫽u/U w , V⫽ v ⬘ / v m
␤ ⫽ 冑␳ o ␻ /2␮ denotes the inverse of the Stokes layer thick-
ness, also known as the viscous penetration depth.
In scaled variables, the equation that governs the axial
motion is
⳵U ⳵U ⳵ U 1 ⳵ 2U
⫹␣V ⫹D ⫽ ,
⳵␶ ⳵Y ⳵␶ 2 ⳵Y 2
⬘ ␤ / ␻ expresses the ratio of the amplitude of the
where ␣ ⫽ v m
transverse velocity to the velocity of the viscous wave gen-
erated by the plate oscillation.
We assume that
U 共 Y , ␶ 兲 ⫽U S共 Y , ␶ 兲 ⫹U ⬘ 共 Y , ␶ 兲 ,
where U S(Y , ␶ ) is the Stokes solution given by
U S共 Y , ␶ 兲 ⫽e ⫺(1⫹i)Y e i ␶ ,
and U ⬘ is small in the sense that ⳵ U ⬘ / ⳵ Y Ⰶ ⳵ U S / ⳵ Y and
⳵ U ⬘ / ⳵ ␶ Ⰶ ⳵ U S / ⳵ ␶ . As usual, it is understood that the real
part of any complex expression is the one with physical
meaning. Therefore, the equation for U ⬘ is
⳵ U ⬘ 1 ⳵ 2U ⬘ ⳵US ⳵US
⫺ ⫽⫺ ␣ V ⫺D , 共10兲
⳵␶ 2 ⳵Y 2 ⳵Y ⳵␶
with the boundary conditions U ⬘ (0,␶ )⫽0 and U ⬘ (Y
→⬁, ␶ )⫽0.
From here onwards, we shall assume that the sound
wave and the oscillatory motion of the plate have the same
frequencies, i.e., ␻ ⫽ ␻ o . Although this is a strong restric-
tion, it is expected that this is the most important case. It
must be recalled however, that the relative phase can be dif-
ferent from zero.
From the previous considerations, the right-hand side of
Eq. 共10兲 involves products of terms of the form e i ␶ . This will
give rise to a steady flow 共steady streaming兲 and an unsteady
flow with twice the frequency of oscillation. Therefore, U ⬘ is
of the form
U ⬘ 共 Y , ␶ 兲 ⫽U ⬘ 共 s 兲 共 Y 兲 ⫹U ⬘ 共 u 兲 共 Y 兲 e 2i ␶ ,
where superindexes 共s兲 and 共u兲 denote the steady and un-
steady contributions. Substituting this expression and the di-
mensionless version of Eqs. 共5兲 and 共6兲 in Eq. 共10兲, we find
the following equation for the steady part, U ⬘ (s) :
d 2 U ⬘ (s) ␣ e ⫺Y ⫹i ␸
⫽⫺ 关共 i⫹ ␥ 1 兲共 e i ␥ 1 Y ⫺e i ␥ 2 Y 兲兴 ,
dY 2 2
where ␥ 1 ⫽1⫺K, ␥ 2 ⫽1⫹K and K⫽k/ ␤ . The correspond-
ing equation for U ⬘ (u) is
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Interaction of Stokes boundary layer flow 3711
FIG. 2. Steady streaming velocity as a function of the transversal coordinate
关Eq. 共14兲兴. Here ␣ ⫽10, K⫽10⫺4 ; ␸ ⫽0, ⫾ ␲ /4, ⫾ ␲ /2, ⫾3 ␲ /4, ␲ . 0⬍ ␸
⬍ ␲ , interval of rarefaction; ⫺ ␲ ⬍ ␸ ⬍0, interval of compression.
共7兲
d 2 U ⬘ (u) ␣ e ⫺Y ⫹i ␸
⫺4iU ⬘ 共u兲
⫽⫺
dY 2 2
⫻ 关共 i⫺ ␥ 1 兲 e ⫺i ␥ 2 Y ⫺ 共 i⫺ ␥ 2 兲 e ⫺i ␥ 1 Y 兴 .
共8兲 共13兲
Boundary conditions and solutions to Eqs. 共12兲 and 共13兲
are presented in the following sections.
共9兲
A. Steady streaming
In principle, the boundary conditions that should be sat-
isfied by the steady state part of U ⬘ are U ⬘ (s) (Y ⫽0)⫽0 and
U ⬘ (s) (Y →⬁)⫽0. However, it is not possible to satisfy in
general both conditions simultaneously.16 In order to get a
solution, the condition at infinity should be relaxed requiring
only that the velocity remains finite as the distance from the
plate increases. Hence, we get
␣
U ⬘共 s 兲 ⫽ e i␸
2 再 1
␥ 1 ⫹i
共 e ⫺[1⫺i ␥ 1 ]Y ⫺1 兲
冎
1
⫺ 共 e ⫺[1⫺i ␥ 2 ]Y ⫺1 兲 . 共14兲
␥ 2 ⫹i
The real part of this expression is shown in Fig. 2 for
K⫽10⫺4 , ␣⫽10 and ␸⫽0,⫾␲/4,⫾␲/2,⫾3␲/4 and ␲. The
quoted values have been chosen since they represent the cor-
rect order of magnitude in some real cases of interest. For
instance, taking air at normal pressure and temperature as the
working fluid and considering oscillations with ␻⫽200 Hz
and p ⬘ ⫽200 Pa, the relevant parameters are ␣⫽6.5 and K
共11兲 ⫽2.25⫻10⫺4 . It should be noted that ␣ only modulates the
amplitude of the U ⬘ (s) profile. As it can be appreciated, for
␸⫽0 and ␲ the steady streaming U ⬘ (s) displays a damped
oscillatory behavior, taking positive and negative values, re-
spectively, close to the wall (Y ⬍4); also, for Y →⬁, the
steady motion tends to zero, satisfying the second boundary
condition and indicating that no net flow persists beyond the
共12兲 boundary layer. The behavior of U ⬘ (s) (Y ) for ␸⫽⫾␲/4 is
similar to the one just described, but with the important dif-
ference that net flow persists away from the boundary layer
at large distances from the plate; the net flow at long dis-
3712 Phys. Fluids, Vol. 13, No. 12, December 2001 Ramos, Cuevas, and Huelsz

tances from the plate is negative for ␲/4 and positive for
⫺␲/4. For ␸⫽␲/2 共⫺␲/2兲, the profile takes only negative
共positive兲 values and displays the largest values of steady
streaming. All profiles present dU ⬘ (s) /dY (Y ⫽0)⫽0, indi-
cating that the steady streaming does not modify the shear
stress on the plate.
At large distances from the plate, the steady streaming
velocity becomes

lim U ⬘ 共 s 兲 ⫽
Y →⬁ 2 再
␣ ⫺ 共 ␥ 1 cos ␸ ⫹sin ␸ 兲 ␥ 2 cos ␸ ⫹sin ␸
␥ 21 ⫹1
⫹
␥ 22 ⫹1
,冎
共15兲
FIG. 3. Unsteady contribution to the velocity correction U ⬘ (u) as a function
and in the case where KⰆ1, which means that the Stokes of the transversal coordinate 关Eq. 共17兲兴. Here ␣⫽10, K⫽10⫺4 ; ␸⫽0, ⫾␲/4,
layer thickness is much smaller than the acoustic wave- ⫾␲/2, ⫾3␲/4, ␲. 0⬍␸⬍␲, interval of rarefaction; ⫺␲⬍␸⬍0, interval of
length, this expression reduces to compression.

␣K
lim U ⬘ 共 s 兲 ⬃⫺ sin ␸ .
Y →⬁ 2
Under this approximation, the largest streaming velocity
outside the boundary layer is ⫿ ␣ K/2 and occurs at
␸⫽⫾␲/2. Except for ␸⫽0 or ␲, a net velocity exists beyond
the Stokes boundary layer, indicating a double boundary
layer structure. This structure is similar to that found in os-
cillatory boundary layer flows where free stream velocity is a
function of the axial coordinate. In the present case, the di-
rection and magnitude of the streaming at the edge of the
boundary layer is determined by the relative phase of the
waves. It is worth analyzing in detail the physical conditions
that yield representative situations. We shall take for speci-
ficity, but with no loss of generality, the definition of direc-
tions given in Fig. 1. We will restrict the discussion to the
case KⰆ1, since it is the most relevant from the point of
view of the real applications. The presentation of results is
simpler in terms of the density perturbation whose phase
goes ahead ␲ /2 from the velocity perturbation in the standing
acoustic wave. Assume that 0⬍␸⬍␲; in this case the density
perturbation and the plate displacement are out of phase, i.e.,
the absolute value of their relative phase is larger than ␲/2.
This means that, when the velocity of the plate is positive the
fluid is in the rarefaction phase and when the velocity of the
plate is negative, the fluid is in the compression phase. Equa-
tion 共16兲 indicates that the steady streaming is in the negative
axial direction. Hence, the direction of the plate and the
steady streaming coincide when the fluid is at maximum
compression. Assume now that ⫺␲⬍␸⬍0. Here, the density
perturbation and the plate displacement are in phase 关the ab-
solute value of their relative phase is smaller than ␲/2兴. This
implies that when the velocity of the plate is positive, the
fluid is in the compression phase while when the velocity of
the plate is negative, the fluid is in the rarefaction phase. In
this case, the steady streaming is in the positive axial direc-
tion 关Eq. 共16兲兴. Again, the direction of the steady streaming
is that of the plate when the fluid is at maximum compres-
sion.
In summary, regardless of the relative phase of the
waves, we find that the direction of the streaming is that of
the plate at the moment of maximum compression and is
proportional to the velocity of the plate at this moment. The
共16兲 tangential velocity given by Eq. 共15兲 关or 共16兲兴, which is the
equivalent to Rayleigh’s law of streaming3 for the present
problem, can be considered as the inner boundary condition
for the calculation of the outer flow. In fact, neglecting the
Stokes boundary layer thickness, this equation may be taken
as a slip velocity at the solid surface.
B. Unsteady flow
In order to calculate the spatial part of the unsteady flow,
Eq. 共13兲 must be solved subject to the following boundary
conditions: U ⬘ (u) (0,␶ )⫽0 and U ⬘ (u) (Y →⬁, ␶ )⫽0. The solu-
tion is
␣ e i␸
U ⬘ 共 u 兲 ⫽⫺ 兵 共 f 1 ⫹ f 2 兲共 e (⫺1⫺i(1⫹K))Y ⫺e ⫺(1⫹i)Y 兲
4
⫹ 共 f 3 ⫹ f 4 兲共 e (⫺1⫺i(1⫺K))Y ⫺e ⫺(1⫹i)Y 兲 其 , 共17兲
where
K⫹i 共 2⫺K 兲 K⫹i 共 2⫺K 兲
f 1 ⫽⫺ , f 2⫽ ,
2⫹i 共 2⫹K 兲 iK
⫺K⫹i 共 2⫹K 兲 ⫺K⫹i 共 2⫹K 兲
f 3⫽ , f 4 ⫽⫺ .
iK 2⫹i 共 2⫺K 兲
The real part of this expression is shown in Fig. 3 for
K⫽10⫺4 , ␣ ⫽10 and ␸ ⫽0, ␲ /4, ␲ /2, 3 ␲ /4 and ␲ . As can
be seen, the profiles are not monotonic with the local
maxima in the region Y ⬍3. In all cases, U ⬘ (u) tends to zero
as Y →⬁, satisfying the two boundary conditions.
Thus, the full solution for the axial flow is given by
adding the Stokes solution 关Eq. 共9兲兴 and the perturbation,
which is calculated by substituting Eqs. 共14兲 and 共17兲 in Eq.
共11兲.
IV. SHEAR STRESS AND KINETIC ENERGY
The presence of a compressible wave modifies the am-
plitude and phase of the Stokes boundary layer flow and
generates steady streaming. We are interested in calculating
the shear stress correction on the plate due to the presence of
the sound wave. This can be easily done by calculating the
derivative of the velocity correction along the transversal di-

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Phys. Fluids, Vol. 13, No. 12, December 2001
rection. As remarked in the previous section, the steady
streaming does not modify the shear stress at the plate.
Therefore, the modification of the instantaneous shear at the
plate is only due to the unsteady component of the flow and
is given by
冉 冊
⳵ 共 U⫺U s 兲 i␣K
⫽ 兵 f 1 ⫹ f 2 ⫺ f 3 ⫺ f 4 其 e i(2t⫹ ␸ ) ,
⳵Y Y ⫽0
4 streaming direction coincides with the direction of the plate
meaning that the instantaneous shear stress is a harmonic
function of the relative phase of the plate motion and the
sound wave. The specific ␸ for which the shear stress is zero
depends on K and ␣, but numerical calculations for K
⫽10⫺4 and ␣⫽10 give that approximately, in the intervals
0⬍␸⬍3␲/4 and 7␲/4⬍␸⬍2␲, the differential stress is posi-
tive, indicating that the presence of the sound wave aug-
ments the instantaneous work required by an external agent
to move the oscillating wall. Conversely, in the interval
3␲/4⬍␸⬍7␲/4 the differential stress is negative and thus the
sound wave diminishes the external work required to drive
the modified Stokes flow. This effect could be used, at least
in principle, to reduce or enhance vibrations of rigid surfaces
by modifying the flow field in their vicinity with a sound
wave.
The difference between the average kinetic energy den-
sity of the axial motion 关Eq. 共8兲兴 and the Stokes flow per unit
cycle is
冕 冋冕 ␳ 册 冕 冋冕 册
2␲ 2␲ ␳
⌬E⫽ 兩 U 兩 2 dV dt⫺ 兩 U s 兩 2 dV dt.
0 V2 0 V2
According to Eq. 共14兲, ⌬E is unbounded for the semi-infinite
integration volume above the plate. This is of course due to
the unrealistic consideration that the fluid that is set in mo-
tion by the steady streaming extends to infinity in the trans-
versal direction. This result is also an indication of the
double deck structure of the boundary layer generated by the
sound wave. It can be shown that ⌬E⫽( ␳ o /2) 兰 V ( 兩 U ⬘ (s) 兩 2
⫹ 兩 U ⬘ (u) 兩 2 )dV, which is a positive definite quantity, and
therefore, the sound wave always increases the kinetic en-
ergy of the axial motion. It can also be shown that ⌬E is a
function of K and ␣ but does not depend on the relative
phase ␸ .
V. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUDING REMARKS
The results presented here display some important fea-
tures of the interaction of a sound wave with a flow domi-
nated by effects other than compressibility. In particular, it
has been shown that a qualitative change in the oscillating
flow can be provoked by a sound wave; namely, the genera-
tion of a steady streaming in the Stokes boundary layer,
which is totally absent without the sound wave. The steady
streaming persists beyond the boundary layer, as is the case
in Rayleigh’s and Schlichting’s problems. However, the
present situation differs from the previous studies in two im-
portant aspects: 共a兲 the steady streaming is produced by a
different mechanism, namely, the presence of a transversal
sound wave, and 共b兲 the independence of the streamwise
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Interaction of Stokes boundary layer flow 3713
velocity on the axial coordinate. The break in the symmetry
of the oscillatory motion of the plate is done by the nonlinear
interaction described by the convective term v ⬘ ⳵ u/ ⳵ y and
the local acceleration term ␳ ⬘ ⳵ u/ ⳵ t. Another remarkable fea-
ture of the flow is its dependence on the relative phase of the
sound wave and the plate oscillation. Due to the properties of
共18兲 the sound waves, it is possible to conclude that the steady
at the moment of maximum compression.
Some stringent conditions must have been imposed to
render a tractable problem. In particular, we have assumed
that dependent variables are only functions of the vertical
coordinate y. Therefore no information on the stability of the
flow is available. An interesting effect that can be studied in
the future is the possibility of destabilizing the Stokes flow
by an acoustic wave.
We have analyzed only the case when the frequency of
the two waves is the same. A more complete analysis would
be required for examining the effect of different frequencies
but this is beyond the scope of the present project, although
it can be speculated that the largest effect would be found
when the two waves have the same frequency.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research was supported by CONACYT under
Projects No. G0044E and No. 32707-U.
共19兲
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