In physics and fluid mechanics, a Blasius boundary layer (named after Paul Richard Heinrich

Blasius) describes the steady two-dimensional laminar boundary layer that forms on a semi-infinite
plate which is held parallel to a constant unidirectional flow. Falkner and Skan later generalized
Blasius' solution to wedge flow (Falkner–Skan boundary layer), i.e. flows in which the plate is not
parallel to the flow.

Prandtl's boundary layer equations[edit]

A schematic diagram of the Blasius flow profile.

The streamwise velocity component is shown, as a function of the similarity variable

.
Using scaling arguments, Ludwig Prandtl[1] argued that about half of the terms in the Navier-Stokes
equations are negligible in boundary layer flows (except in a small region near the leading edge of
the plate). This leads to a reduced set of equations known as the boundary layer equations. For
steady incompressible flow with constant viscosity and density, these read:

 Mass Continuity:

 -Momentum:

 -Momentum:

Here the coordinate system is chosen with pointing parallel to the plate in the direction of

the flow and the coordinate pointing normal to the plate, and are the

and velocity components, is the pressure, is the density and

is the kinematic viscosity.

A number of similarity solutions to this set of equations have been found for various types of flow,
including flow on a thin flat-plate. The term similarity refers to the property that the velocity profiles at
different positions in the flow are the same apart from scaling factors. Similarity scaling factors
reduce the set of partial differential equations to a relatively easily solved set of non-linear ordinary
differential equations. Paul Richard Heinrich Blasius,[2] one of Prandtl's students, developed the
similarity model corresponding to the flow for the case where the pressure gradient, /

, along a thin flat-plate is negligible compared to any pressure gradient in the boundary
layer region.

Blasius equation - first-order boundary layer[edit]

Blasius showed that for the case where , the Prandtl -momentum equation has a
self-similar solution. The self-similar solution exists because the equations and the boundary
conditions are invariant under the transformation

where is any positive constant. He introduced the self-similar variables

Developing Blasius boundary layer (not to scale). The velocity

profile is shown in red at selected positions along the plate. The blue lines represent, in

top to bottom order, the 99% free stream velocity line ( ), the displacement thickness (

) and ( ). See Boundary layer thickness for a more detailed

explanation.

where is the boundary layer thickness, is the free stream velocity, and
is the stream function. The stream function is directly proportional to the normalized function,

, which is only a function of the similarity thickness variable. This leads directly to the
velocity components:[3]: 136
Where the prime denotes derivation with respect to . Substitution into the -
momentum equation gives the Blasius equation

The boundary conditions are the no-slip condition, the impermeability of the wall and the free stream
velocity outside the boundary layer

This is a third-order non-linear ordinary differential equation which can be solved numerically, e.g.
with the shooting method.