Blasius Equation

Blasius Equation
The Blasius equation describes the nondimensional velocity distribution in the laminar
boundary layer over a flat plate. It describes the similarity solution of the fluid flow
influenced by viscous effects
The Navier Stokes equation and the boundary conditions on the problem are
(3.1)
(3.2)
where u and v are the velocity in the x and y direction. The problem is described by
Figure 3.1 below where U is the free stream velocity. The pressure is assumed
constant and is not solved in this simplification.
Figure 3.1 Laminar flow over a flat plate
Using a stream function the continuity equation, the first equation in Equation 3.1, is
satisfied. Introducing the dimensionless coordinate , and a dimensionless stream
function f [33], the second equation in Equation (3.1) is reduced to
(3.3)
The boundary conditions then translate to
(3.4)
This equation, termed as the Blasius equation, is a third order nonlinear ordinary
differential equation with boundary conditions at two points. Published solutions
indicate that the infinity boundary condition is easily met at = 6. The analytical
solution was obtained by Blasius by a series expansion at = 0 and asymptotic
expansion for large . It was solved numerically for the first time by Toepfer in 1912.
A better solution was obtained by Howarth [34]. Howarths solution can now be
reproduced using a numerical boundary value problem solver.
The Blasius problem is part of the set of problems defined by the Falkner-Skan
equations, also appears to be a bench mark for comparing the different techniques for
the solution to the NLBVP, particularly analytical ones. Reference 35 transforms the
BVP into a pair of initial value problems using transformation groups. The interval is
broken into 17 domains with a different power series in each domain. They are able
to obtain good agreement with Howarths solution. Reference 36 applies the Adomain
decomposition to obtain the transformation of the Blasius equation to Banach space
and then solves for the missing initial condition necessary to convert it to an initial
value problem. A standard numerical technique is then used to obtain the solution.
The procedure is strongly problem dependent. Reference 37 applies to problems that
have asymptotic boundary conditions, which is true of the Blasius equation. It uses a
special numerical technique to obtain the solution. The original differential equations
are normalized and rewritten over a set of intervals. A perturbation system is
developed to solve the normalized equation and the whole process is iterated.
Reference 38 uses a direct perturbation technique by imbedding a small parameter
into the Blasius equation. This parameter value is then iterated until desired accuracy
is reached. Reference 39 uses perturbation and calculus of variations to establish the
analytic solution of the Blasius equation, which resembles a power series, but has
imbedded in it a factor that is similar to a basis definition. Reference 40 uses the perturbation scheme which involves iteration on . The accuracy demonstrated in the
paper is quite weak as only a couple of iterations are shown.
Blasius boundary layer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 .
A schematic diagram of the Blasius flow profile. The streamwise

velocity component
the stretched co-ordinate
is shown, as a function of
.
The solution to the NavierStokes equation for this flow begins with an order-of-magnitude
analysis to determine what terms are important. Within the boundary layer the usual balance
between viscosity and convective inertia is struck, resulting in the scaling argument
where
is the boundary-layer thickness and
is the kinematic viscosity.
However the semi-infinite plate has no natural length scale

and so the steady, incompressible,
two-dimensional boundary-layer equations for continuity and momentum are
Continuity:
x-Momentum:
(note that the x-independence of
has been accounted for in the boundary-layer equations)
admit a similarity solution. In the system of partial differential equations written above it is
assumed that a fixed solid body wall is parallel to the x-direction whereas the y-direction is
normal with respect to the fixed wall, as shown in the above schematic. and denote here the
x- and y-components of the fluid velocity vector. Furthermore, from the scaling argument it is
apparent that the boundary layer grows with the downstream coordinate , e.g.
This suggests adopting the similarity variable
and writing
It proves convenient to work with the stream function
, in which case
and on differentiating, to find the velocities, and substituting into the boundarylayer equation we obtain the Blasius equation
subject to
on
and
as
. This nonlinear ODE can be solved numerically, with the shooting method proving an
effective choice. The shear stress on the plate
can then be computed. The numerical solution gives

.
The Blasius equation The second basic

hypothesis discussed in section [19.1] can be
summarize by the expression u = Ug(), (19.10)
where because of (19.1) can be written as =
y (x) (19.11) with (x) = x U !1/2 , (19.12) so
that x = x , (19.13) y = 1 .
(19.14) Principles of Fluid Dynamics
(www.fluiddynamics.it) 131 The continuity
equation (19.6) allows us to write the two
components of the velocity by means of a
streamfunction as in (E.1)(E.2) u = + y ,
(19.15) v = x . (19.16) The momentum
equation (19.5) becomes y 2 xy
x 2 y2 = 3 y3 . (19.17) On the other
hand the streamfunction can be expressed in
the following form = Z y 0 u dy = Z 0 u d
= Z 0 Ug() d = Uf(), (19.18) where g()

= df d . (19.19) From (19.16), (19.18) and
(19.13) it follows that v = x = U f d dx
+ f x! = U d dx f df d! . (19.20) From
(19.15) and (19.18) (or (19.10) and (19.19) we
have u = y = U df d . (19.21) The
derivatives of higher order of can be obtained
similarly 2 xy = U d dx y f df d! =
U d 2 f d2 d dx , (19.22) 2 y2 = U
d 2 f d2 , (19.23) 3 y3 = U 2 d 3 f d3 .
(19.24) 132 Franco Mattioli (University of
Bologna) Inserting (19.20)(19.24) into (19.17),
and noting that from (19.12) U d dx = 1 2 ,
we arrive at 1 2 f d 2 f d2 + d 3 f d3 = 0.
(19.25) Thus, we have traced back our system
of partial differential equations (19.5) (19.6) to
an ordinary equation, although of the third
order. This equation is nonlinear, as expected. It
is referred to as the Blasius equation after the
name of the author that discovered it. The
boundary conditions to satisfy are f = 0, for =
0, , (19.26) df d = 0, for = 0, , (19.27) df d
1, for . (19.28) The last condition
(19.28) is (19.9) worked out through (19.10) and
(19.19). Condition (19.27) is a reworking of
(19.7), always on the basis of (19.10) and

(19.19). Condition (19.26), instead, derives from
(19.20), because for = 0 the first and the last
terms vanish. This second term vanishes both
because = 0 and because of (19.27).

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Blasius Equation

Figure 3.1 Laminar flow over a flat plate

The boundary conditions then translate to

Blasius boundary layer

A schematic diagram of the Blasius flow profile. The streamwise

is the boundary-layer thickness and

is the kinematic viscosity.

However the semi-infinite plate has no natural length scale

This suggests adopting the similarity variable

It proves convenient to work with the stream function

can then be computed. The numerical solution gives

The Blasius equation The second basic

= Z 0 Ug() d = Uf(), (19.18) where g()

(19.7), always on the basis of (19.10) and

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