• DECEMBER 2019

Intro to Laminar Boundary

Layer Theory

Laminar Boundary Layer Theory – Lesson 1

 Boundary Layer Intro
• The boundary layer is defined as the thin region on the surface of a body within which viscous effects are
important.

• Boundary layers are essential physical features of most wall-bounded flows. Focusing on the near wall region
provides great insight into the physical mechanisms which control shear stress, drag, separation, and related
phenomena.

• Boundary layer effects must be accurately described and accounted for in any fluid-dynamics-based design
(aircraft and automobile aerodynamics, marine vessel hydrodynamics, etc.).

Boundary Layer

Boundary layer over a concept car Airflow separation on an airfoil

at high angle of attack

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Boundary Layer Intro (cont.)

• Ludwig Prandtl introduced the concept of the boundary layer in 1904 and developed his famous
boundary layer theory.
• His theory is based on the observation that:
‐ Viscous effects are contained within the thin boundary layer, and

‐ The fluid in the region outside the boundary layer behaves as if inviscid (inertially-dominated flow).

• Using this boundary layer concept, it is possible to simplify the analysis of viscous flows allowing for
the analytical solution of a wide range of viscous flow problems.
• In this course, we will discuss how the boundary layer equations are developed, solved and analyzed.

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General Boundary Layer Concepts
• Let’s look at a viscous flow over a flat plate.
• The boundary layer forms at the leading edge of the plate and increases in thickness from the leading
edge. We denote the local boundary layer thickness by 𝛿(𝑥).
• The flow is initially laminar. As it proceeds along the plate, the laminar flow will begin to break down
(within the transition region) and finally become fully turbulent.
Note that the turbulent flow is inherently unsteady, and we speak of a turbulent boundary layer thickness in a
time-average sense.

laminar transition turbulent

Viscous flow over a flat plate

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Boundary Layer Thickness
• The boundary layer idea assumes that the fluid transitions from a velocity of zero at the wall (no slip) to the free
stream velocity away from the wall, denoted 𝑉∞ .
• The boundary layer thickness 𝛿(𝑥) is defined rigorously as the distance away from the surface where the fluid
velocity 𝑢(𝑥, 𝑦) reaches 99% of the free-stream velocity. Experimentally, it is found to grow proportionately to
the distance from the leading edge of the plate. This growth rate is also a function of the Reynolds number and
depends on the flow regime (laminar or turbulent).

Boundary layer edge Inviscid zone

𝑦
𝑉∞ 𝑢(𝑥, 𝑦) 𝛿 𝑥
Viscous zone
𝑥

Steady-state boundary layer model for flow over a flat plate

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Dimensional Estimate of Boundary Layer Scales
• Physically, a thin boundary layer will develop along a wall if the rate of downstream convection is much larger than
the rate of transverse viscous diffusion. A simple dimensional analysis can be performed to estimate at what
Reynolds numbers the boundary layer should exist.

• Let us consider a thin plate of length 𝐿 in a flow with the free-stream velocity 𝑉∞ .

• The convection time can be estimated as the time it takes a free-stream fluid particle to pass over the plate:
𝑉∞
𝑡convection ~
𝐿
• The transverse viscous diffusion time can be approximated as:
𝜈𝐿
𝑡viscous diffusion ~ 3 where ν is the kinematic viscosity 𝜈 = 𝜇/𝜌
𝑉∞
• The near-wall viscous region of the boundary layer will be thin if 𝑡viscous diffusion ≪ 𝑡convection , which gives:
𝑉∞ 𝐿
≫ 1, 𝑜𝑟 𝑅𝑒 ≫ 1
𝜈
• Thus, a reasonable estimate of 𝑅𝑒 for the boundary layer to exist is 𝑹𝒆 ≥ 𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎.

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Laminar Boundary Layer
• The boundary layer will, in general, be laminar in the range of Reynolds numbers:
1000 < 𝑅𝑒𝐿 < 106
• This range, however, is merely an order of magnitude guidance, as the transition to turbulence depends
on many factors, such as free-stream conditions and surface roughness, and it may occur at lower or
higher Reynolds numbers.
• A boundary layer is not always present along the entire length of a wall of a bluff body. There are no
boundary layers in the separated regions downstream of the bodies.
• While the boundary layer theory cannot describe separated flow, it can, in fact, predict the point of
separation.
Flow

Bluff Body

Boundary Layer separation on a bluff body.

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The Objective of Boundary Layer Analysis

• Our goal in analyzing the boundary layer is to develop a solution for the velocity distribution within
the boundary layer for a given surface geometry.
• Knowing the velocity distribution, we can calculate the shear stress at the wall and thus the skin
friction drag force.
• This idea can be applied to any surface shape, as the local shear stress is a function of the gradient of
velocity normal to the wall.
• Finally, flows do not always remain neatly attached to the wall. If the pressure increases suddenly in
the streamwise direction, we may encounter separation, which will complicate the flow analysis.
Fortunately, for many surface shapes, the flow remains attached on most of the surface, and so
classic boundary layer analysis is still valuable.

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Summary

• This lesson introduced the concept of the boundary layer, which was originally outlined by Ludwig
Prandtl in 1904.

• We will now consider detailed laminar boundary layer analysis in the next lesson.