CL 305: TRANSPORT PHENOMENA

Velocity Distribution: More Than One

Independent Variable

AMIT KUMAR
02 March 2021
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
TIME DEPENDENT FLOW OF NEWTONIAN FLUIDS

Flow Near a Wall Suddenly Set in Motion:

A semi-infinite body of liquid with constant density and viscosity is
bounded below by a horizontal surface (the solid surface is in the
xz-plane). At t = 0, the solid surface is set in motion in the positive x
direction with a constant velocity v0 .There is no pressure gradient in the
x direction and the flow can be assumed laminar.
Find vx as a function of y and t.
We have vx = vx (y, t), vy = 0, vz = 0.
The equation of motion in the x direction is
 2
∂ 2 vx ∂ 2 vx ∂ 2 vx

Dvx ∂p ∂ vx ∂vx
ρ =− + ρgx + µ + + ⇒ ρ =µ 2
Dt ∂x ∂x2 ∂y 2 ∂z 2 ∂t ∂y

∂vx ∂ 2 vx
⇒ =ν
∂t ∂y 2

1
TIME DEPENDENT FLOW OF NEWTONIAN FLUIDS
Flow Near a Wall Suddenly Set in Motion:
∂vx ∂ 2 vx
=ν
∂t ∂y 2

The initial and boundary conditions are:

Initial Condition : At t ≤ 0, vx = 0 for all y
Boundary Condition 1 : At y = 0, vx = v0 for all t > 0
Boundary Condition 2 : At y = ∞, vx = 0 for all t > 0

Let us introduce a dimensionless velocity φ = vx /v0 . The equation of

motion in the x direction then becomes
∂φ ∂2φ
=ν 2
∂t ∂y

and the initial and boundary conditions are

φ(y, 0) = 0, φ(0, t) = 1, φ(∞, t) = 0.
2
TIME DEPENDENT FLOW OF NEWTONIAN FLUIDS

Flow Near a Wall Suddenly Set in Motion:

The solution to this equation will be of the form φ = φ(y, t; ν).
Define a dimensionless variable using a combination of y, t, ν. The
simplest such variable is

y
η=√
νt

∂φ dφ ∂η η dφ
= =−
∂t dη ∂t 2t dη

∂φ dφ ∂η 1 dφ
= =√
∂y dη ∂y νt dη

∂2φ 1 d2 φ ∂η 1 d2 φ
 
∂ 1 dφ
= √ =√ =
∂y 2 ∂y νt dη νt dη 2 ∂y νt dη 2
3
TIME DEPENDENT FLOW OF NEWTONIAN FLUIDS

Flow Near a Wall Suddenly Set in Motion:

∂φ ∂2φ
The PDE = ν 2 then becomes the following ODE:
∂t ∂y

η dφ 1 d2 φ d2 φ η dφ
− = ⇒ + =0
2t dη t dη 2 dη 2 2 dη
with the boundary conditions given by:
• At η = 0, φ=1
• At η = ∞, φ=0

dφ
Using ψ = , the second order ODE in φ becomes:
dη

η2
 
dψ η dψ η
+ ψ=0 ⇒ = − dη ⇒ ψ = C1 exp −
dη 2 ψ 2 4

4
TIME DEPENDENT FLOW OF NEWTONIAN FLUIDS

Flow Near a Wall Suddenly Set in Motion:

So,
 2 η
η̄ 2
Z  
dφ η
ψ= = C1 exp − ⇒ φ(η)−φ(0) = C1 exp − dη̄
dη 4 0 4

Using the first boundary condition (at η = 0, φ = 1):

η
η̄ 2
Z  
φ(η) = 1 + C1 exp − dη̄
0 4

Applying the second boundary condition (at η = ∞, φ = 0):

1
C1 = − Z ∞  2
η̄
exp − dη̄
0 4

5
TIME DEPENDENT FLOW OF NEWTONIAN FLUIDS

Flow Near a Wall Suddenly Set in Motion:

Z η
 2
η̄
exp − dη̄
4
φ(η) = 1 − Z 0∞  2
η̄
exp − dη̄
0 4

Let η̄ 2 /4 = α2 ⇒ η̄ = 2α. So, dη̄ = 2dα and the upper limit of

integration in the integral in the numerator becomes η/2. Therefore,

Z η/2
exp −α2 dα


η η
φ(η) = 1 − Z0 ∞ = 1 − erf = erfc
2

2 2
exp −α dα
0

where erf and erfc are called the error function and the complementary
error function respectively. 6
TIME DEPENDENT FLOW OF NEWTONIAN FLUIDS

Flow Near a Wall Suddenly Set in Motion:

Writing in terms of the original variables:

vx y y y
= 1 − erf √ = erfc √ = erfc √
v0 2 νt 2 νt 4νt

The complementary error function drops to a value of 0.01 when

√
y/ 4νt ≈ 2.0.
If we define a boundary layer thickness δ as the distance y from the solid
surface for which the fluid velocity is vx = 0.01v0 , then we get
√ √
δ/ 4νt = 2 ⇒ δ = 4 νt.
√
This distance 4 νt is the length scale for the diffusion of momentum.
ν is also known as momentum diffusivity.
We have used the method of combination of variables or the method
of similarity solutions to solve this problem. 7