1.

0 INTRODUCTION

External flow past objects encompass as extremely wide variety of fluid mechanics
phenomena. There are two fundamental characteristics for the flow of real fluid which are there
are no discontinuity of velocity and the velocity of the fluid relative to the surface (solid
surface) is zero. But this statement is only valid except for fluid at extremely low pressure.
Besides, the region that is closed to the surface in which the velocity increases rapidly from
zero approaches the velocity of the main stream occurs is called the boundary layer. The
boundary layer was formed in the flow along one side of a thin, smooth plate, flat plate which
is parallel to the direction of the oncoming fluid. The initial velocity of the fluid, U was in the
direction of the plate, in which the plate was retarded in the region of the surface and the
boundary layer begins at the leading edge of the plate. One of the purpose of boundary layer is
to allow the fluid to change its velocity from the upstream value U to zero on the plate. Next,
boundary layer thickness is the distance from the plate at which the velocity of the fluid is
within the same arbitrary value of the upstream velocity. Later, the boundary layer
displacement is the distance in which the solid boundary have to be displaced in order to
give the equal mass defect existed in the boundary layer flow. In other words, boundary layer
thickness can also be defined as boundary layer momentum thickness which is used in
determining the drag of an object.

Figure 1.1: Flow over a flat Plate

 Figure 1.2: Boundary layer
Boundary layer flow can be categorised into two type of flow which are laminar flow and
turbulent flow. For a laminar flow, it has a very smooth flow, while the turbulent flow contains
swirls or eddies. Besides, less skin drag is created by the laminar boundary layer, but it is
less stable compared to a turbulent boundary layer. The boundary layer flow over a wing
surface begins as a smooth laminar flow. Then, as the flow continues back from the leading
edge, the thickness of the laminar boundary layer increases. For laminar flow, the Reynolds
Number is less than 500 x 103. Later, at some distance from the leading edge, the smooth
laminar breaks down and transitions to a turbulent flow. In addition, from a drag standpoint, it
is advisable to have a transition from laminar to turbulent flow as far as on the wing as possible,
or a large amount of the wing surface is required within the laminar portion of the boundary
layer. However, the low energy of the laminar flow will break down more suddenly than a
turbulent layer. For a turbulent flow, the Reynolds number is more than 500 x 103.
3.0 THEORY

The fluid flow theory that has been tested experimentally has proven that when a fluid flows
over a surface, there is no slip (no slip boundary condition, V=0 m/s) at the surface. This also
means that the fluid which is in contact with the surface, stays with it. Therefore, the properties
of the surface affects the speeds of the flow which is in contact to it. Next, the relative velocity
starting from the surface to the free steam which is a few distance away from the surface,
increases from zero. This is due to the friction factor, in which as the velocity profile is further
apart from the plate, the velocity is affected by friction. The fluid in that small distance is called
Boundary Layer.

Next, a steady stream of fluid moving from left to the right over a smooth plate is assumed.
The free velocity, U is constant over the entire plate. Furthermore, it was founded that as the
fluid travelled downstream, the boundary layer experienced growth in thickness.

U U

Laminar Turbulence

Transition

Figure 3.1: Boundary layer growth

The initial motion is laminar which experience a gradual increase in thickness. If the plate is
sufficiently long a transition to turbulence occurs.
Laminar Boundary Layer

Laminar flow (or streamline flow) occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no
disruption between the layers. At low velocities, the fluid tends to flow without lateral mixing,
and adjacent layers slide past one another. The boundary layer for a laminar flow is smooth
and steady. Besides, there are no cross-currents perpendicular to the direction of flow, nor
eddies or swirls of fluids. In addition, the particles of the fluid motion are very orderly placed
and these particle are close to a solid surface moving in a straight lines parallel to that surface.
Furthermore, a laminar flow is a flow regime characterized by high momentum diffusion and
low momentum convection.

When a fluid flows through a closed channel such as a pipe or between two flat plates, either
of two types of flow may occur depending on the velocity and viscosity of the fluid; laminar
or turbulent flow. At lower velocities, laminar flow tends to occur, while at below a threshold,
the flow becomes turbulent. Turbulent flow is a less orderly flow regime that is characterised
by eddies or small packets of fluid particles which led to lateral mixing. In non-scientific terms,
laminar flow is smooth while turbulent flow is rough.

In addition, in a laminar boundary layer, the flow is steady and smooth, and the layer is thin,
which give a rise to the drag. Furthermore, the velocity gradient is moderate but the skin friction
is very small due to significant stresses are too small.

Turbulence Boundary Layer

In contrast, in a turbulence boundary, the flow is unsteady and unsmooth, but eddying. For a
turbulence flow, we must consider mean value over a small time interval and not the
instantaneous value as before, when specifying the velocities. This is because the distribution
of mean velocity in any time interval is the same as in another. Thus, velocity profiles can still
be drawn, which have meaning. Besides, there is a lot of movement of fluids between the inner
and outlet layers of the regions due to the eddying nature of the flow. Thus, this will led to a
higher velocity near the wall compared to the velocity of flow in a laminar boundary layer in
which the movement and energy transfer do not occur. Furthermore, the velocity gradient at
the wall is consequently much higher, and thus higher skin friction and higher drag are also
produced.
For piping Reynolds Number measurement:

The specific calculation of Reynolds Number and the values where the laminar flow occurs
depends on the geometry of the flow system and flow pattern. The common example is flow
through a pipe, where the Reynolds number is defined as:

= = =

Where;

DH is the hydraulic diameter of the pipe; its characteristic travelled length, L (m)
Q is the volumetric flow rate (m3/s)
A is the cross sectional area of the pipe (m2)
v is the mean velocity of the fluid (SI units: m/s)
is the dynamic viscosity of the fluid (Pa.s = N.s/m2 = kg/(m.s) )
is the kinematic viscosity of the fluid, = / (m2/s)
is the density if the fluid (kg/m3)

For standard flow Reynold number measurement:

u uL
= =

Where;
is the density of the fluid (SI units: kg/m3)
u is the velocity of the fluid with respect to the object (m/s)
L is a characteristic linear dimension (m)
is the dynamic viscosity of the fluid (Pa.s or N.s/m2 or kg/(m.s) )
is the kinematic viscosity of the fluid (m2/s)
Boundary layer properties and measurement are explained below;

The boundary layer thickness, is defined as the distance from the surface to the point where
the velocity is within 1 percent of the stream velocity.

= 0.99

The displacement thickness, * is the distance by which the solid boundary would have to be
displaced in a frictionless flow to give the same mass deficit as exists in the boundary layer.

= ( 1 )
0

The momentum thickness, is defined as the thickness layer of fluid with velocity, U (free
stream velocity), for which the momentum flux is equal to the deficit of momentum flux
through the boundary layer.

= ( 1 )
0

The equation for velocity measured by pitot tube is given as;

2(oil gh)
=
air

The Blasiuss exact solutions to the laminar boundary yield the following equations for the
above properties;

5 .0 x

Re x

1.72 x

Re x

0.664 x

Re x
Due to the complexity of the flow, there is no exact solution to the turbulent boundary layer.
The velocity profile within the boundary layer commonly approximated using the 1/7 power
law;

1
u y 7

U

The properties of boundary layer are approximated using the momentum integral equation,
which result in the following expression.

0.370 x
1
Re x 5

0.0463 x
1
Re x 5

0.036 x
1
Re x 5

Another measure of the boundary layer is the shape factor, H, which is the ratio of the
displacement thickness to the momentum thickness, H = */. Meanwhile, for laminar flow,
H increases from 2.6 to 3.5 at separation. For turbulent boundary layer, H increases from 1.3
to approximately 2.5 at separation.

U
0.99U
x
area = u ( U - u) dy
0

u
y
*
( U - u) dy
area = 0

Figure 3.2: Boundary Layer thickness definitions

Reference

1. Douglas F. Young, Bruce R. Munson, Theodore H. Okiishi, Wade W. Huebsch. 2011. A

Brief Introduction To Fluid Mechanics: Fifth Edition. John Wiley & Sons Inc., United States
of America. 474 (pp).

2. Douglas, J.F, Swaffield, J., Gasoriek, J.M, & Jack, L. 2008. Fluid Mechanics. Pearson,
London. 992 (pp).

3. Aerospace, Mechanical & Mechatronic Engg. 2005. Laminar and Turbulent Boundary
Layers. [http://www-
mdp.eng.cam.ac.uk/web/library/enginfo/aerothermal_dvd_only/aero/fprops/introvisc/node8.h
tml]

Accessed November 27, 2017.

4. Yunus A. Cengal, John M. Imbala. 2014. Fluid Mechanics, Third Edition in SI Unit. Mc
Graw Hill Education, 2014, 555 577 (pp)