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Theory Background: Turbulence Laminar

1) When a fluid flows over a surface, a boundary layer forms where the fluid velocity increases from zero at the surface to the free stream velocity outside the layer. 2) As fluid flows over a plate, the boundary layer thickness increases downstream from the leading edge. Initially the layer is laminar but transitions to turbulent further downstream. 3) Key properties of boundary layers include their thickness, displacement thickness, and momentum thickness. Laminar layers are thinner than turbulent layers and have lower skin friction.

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Ahmad Izzuddin
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30 views

Theory Background: Turbulence Laminar

1) When a fluid flows over a surface, a boundary layer forms where the fluid velocity increases from zero at the surface to the free stream velocity outside the layer. 2) As fluid flows over a plate, the boundary layer thickness increases downstream from the leading edge. Initially the layer is laminar but transitions to turbulent further downstream. 3) Key properties of boundary layers include their thickness, displacement thickness, and momentum thickness. Laminar layers are thinner than turbulent layers and have lower skin friction.

Uploaded by

Ahmad Izzuddin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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THEORY BACKGROUND

Classical theory of real fluid flow that has been tested by experimental has shown that when a
fluid flows over a surface there is no slip at the surface. The fluid in contact with the surface
stays with it. The relative velocity increases from zero at the surface to that of the free stream
some little distance away from the surface. The fluid in this small distance is called Boundary
Layer.
Consider a steady stream of fluid moving from left to right over a smooth plate. The free
stream velocity, U, is constant over the entire plate. It is found that the boundary layer grows
in thickness the further we travel downstream.

U U

Laminar Turbulence

Transition

Figure 1: Boundary Layer growth

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

In laminar boundary layer the flow is steady and smooth. Consequently the layer is thin. This
give rise to drag. The velocity gradient is moderate and although significant viscous stresses
exist is too small, so that skin friction is very small.
Turbulence Boundary Layer
In turbulence boundary layer the flow is unsteady and not smooth, but eddying. When
specifying velocities, we must consider mean values over a small time interval and not
instantaneous values as before. The distribution of mean velocity in any one time interval is
the same as in another. Thus we can still draw velocity profiles, which have meaning. Due to
the eddying nature of the flow there is a lot of movement of fluids between inner and outer
layers of the regions. Thus the velocity near the wall will be higher than in a laminar
boundary layer where the movement and energy transfer do not occur. The velocity gradient
at the wall is consequently much higher so the skin friction and drag are also higher.
Some measures of boundary layers are described in Figure 2 below.

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

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

Figure 2: Boundary Layer thickness definitions

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.

uǀy=𝛿 ≡ 0.99U

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.

∞
𝑢
𝛿∗ = ∫ ( 1 − ) 𝑑𝑦
0 𝑈
The momentum thickness, , is define as the thickness of a layer of fluid of velocity, U (free
stream velocity), for which the momentum flux is equal to the deficit of momentum flux
through the boundary layer.

∞
𝑢 𝑢
𝜃=∫ ( 1 − ) 𝑑𝑦
0 𝑈 𝑈

The equation for velocity measured by pitot tube is given as

2(ρoil g∆h)
𝑢=√
ρair

The Blasius’s 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 = */. 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.

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