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1.BoundaryLayers
(Recommendedextrareadingforthissection:FluidMechanicsbyDouglasJF,GasiorekJM,and
SwaffieldJA.Longmanpublishers.Pages327332.)
Whenafluidflowsoverastationarysurface,e.g.thebedofariver,orthewallofapipe,thefluid
touchingthesurfaceisbroughttorestbytheshearstressoatthewall.Thevelocityincreasesfromthe
walltoamaximuminthemainstreamoftheflow.

Lookingatthistwodimensionallywegettheabovevelocityprofilefromthewalltothecentreofthe
flow.
Thisprofiledoesn'tjustexit,itmustbuildupgraduallyfromthepointwherethefluidstartstoflowpast
thesurfacee.g.whenitentersapipe.
Ifweconsideraflatplateinthemiddleofafluid,wewilllookatthebuildupofthevelocityprofileas
thefluidmovesovertheplate.
Upstreamthevelocityprofileisuniform,(freestreamflow)alongwaydownstreamwehavethevelocity
profilewehavetalkedaboutabove.Thisistheknownasfullydevelopedflow.Buthowdowegetto
thatstate?
Thisregion,wherethereisavelocityprofileintheflowduetotheshearstressatthewall,wecallthe
boundarylayer.Thestagesoftheformationoftheboundarylayerareshowninthefigurebelow:

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Wedefinethethicknessofthisboundarylayerasthedistancefromthewalltothepointwherethe
velocityis99%ofthe"freestream"velocity,thevelocityinthemiddleofthepipeorriver.
boundarylayerthickness,=distancefromwalltopointwhereu=0.99umainstream
Thevalueofwillincreasewithdistancefromthepointwherethefluidfirststartstopassoverthe
boundarytheflatplateinourexample.Itincreasestoamaximuminfullydevelopedflow.
Correspondingly,thedragforceDonthefluidduetoshearstressoatthewallincreasesfromzeroatthe
startoftheplatetoamaximuminthefullydevelopedflowregionwhereitremainsconstant.Wecan
calculatethemagnitudeofthedragforcebyusingthemomentumequation.Butthiscomplexandnot
necessaryforthiscourse.
Ourinterestintheboundarylayeristhatitspresencegreatlyaffectstheflowthroughorroundanobject.
Soherewewillexaminesomeofthephenomenaassociatedwiththeboundarylayeranddiscusswhy
theseoccur.

2.Formationoftheboundarylayer
Abovewenotedthattheboundarylayergrowsfromzerowhenafluidstartstoflowoverasolidsurface.
Asispassesoveragreaterlengthmorefluidisslowedbyfrictionbetweenthefluidlayersclosetothe
boundary.Hencethethicknessoftheslowerlayerincreases.
Thefluidnearthetopoftheboundarylayerisdraggingthefluidnearertothesolidsurfacealong.The
mechanismforthisdraggingmaybeoneoftwotypes:
Thefirsttypeoccurswhenthenormalviscousforces(theforceswhichholdthefluidtogether)arelarge
enoughtoexertdrageffectsontheslowermovingfluidclosetothesolidboundary.Iftheboundarylayer
isthinthenthevelocitygradientnormaltothesurface,(du/dy),islargesobyNewton'slawofviscosity
theshearstress,=(du/dy),isalsolarge.Thecorrespondingforcemaythenbelargeenoughtoexert
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dragonthefluidclosetothesurface.
Astheboundarylayerthicknessbecomesgreater,sothevelocitygradientbecomesmallerandtheshear
stressdecreasesuntilitisnolongerenoughtodragtheslowfluidnearthesurfacealong.Ifthisviscous
forcewastheonlyactionthenthefluidwouldcometoarest.
It,ofcourse,doesnotcometorestbutthesecondmechanismcomesintoplay.Uptothispointtheflow
hasbeenlaminarandNewton'slawofviscosityhasapplied.Thispartoftheboundarylayerisknownas
thelaminarboundarylayer
Theviscousshearstresseshaveheldthefluidparticlesinaconstantmotionwithinlayers.Theybecome
smallastheboundarylayerincreasesinthicknessandthevelocitygradientgetssmaller.Eventuallythey
arenolongerabletoholdtheflowinlayersandthefluidstartstorotate.

Thiscausesthefluidmotiontorapidlybecomesturbulent.Fluidfromthefastmovingregionmovesto
theslowerzonetransferringmomentumandthusmaintainingthefluidbythewallinmotion.
Conversely,slowmovingfluidmovestothefastermovingregionslowingitdown.Theneteffectisan
increaseinmomentumintheboundarylayer.Wecallthepartoftheboundarylayertheturbulent
boundarylayer.
Atpointsveryclosetotheboundarythevelocitygradientsbecomeverylargeandthevelocitygradients
becomeverylargewiththeviscousshearforcesagainbecominglargeenoughtomaintainthefluidin
laminarmotion.Thisregionisknownasthelaminarsublayer.Thislayeroccurswithintheturbulent
zoneandisnexttothewallandverythinafewhundredthsofamm.

3.Surfaceroughnesseffect
Despiteitsthinness,thelaminarsublayercanplayavitalroleinthefrictioncharacteristicsofthe
surface.
Thisisparticularlyrelevantwhendefiningpipefrictionaswillbeseeninmoredetailinthelevel2
module.Inturbulentflowiftheheightoftheroughnessofapipeisgreaterthanthethicknessofthe
laminarsublayerthenthisincreasestheamountofturbulenceandenergylossesintheflow.Iftheheight
ofroughnessislessthanthethicknessofthelaminarsublayerthepipeissaidtobesmoothandithas
littleeffectontheboundarylayer.
Inlaminarflowtheheightofroughnesshasverylittleeffect

4.Boundarylayersinpipes
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Asflowentersapipetheboundarylayerwillinitiallybeofthelaminarform.Thiswillchangedepending
ontherationofinertialandviscousforcesi.e.whetherwehavelaminar(viscousforceshigh)or
turbulentflow(inertialforceshigh).
Fromearlierwesawhowwecouldcalculatewhetheraparticularflowinapipeislaminarorturbulent
usingtheReynoldsnumber.

=densityu=velocity=viscosityd=pipediameter)
Laminarflow:Re<2000
Transitionalflow:2000<Re<4000
Turbulentflow:Re>4000

Ifweonlyhavelaminarflowtheprofileisparabolicasprovedinearlierlecturesasonlythefirstpart
oftheboundarylayergrowthdiagramisused.Sowegetthetopdiagramintheabovefigure.
Ifturbulent(ortransitional),boththelaminarandtheturbulent(transitional)zonesoftheboundarylayer
growthdiagramareused.Thegrowthofthevelocityprofileisthuslikethebottomdiagramintheabove
figure.
Oncetheboundarylayerhasreachedthecentreofthepipetheflowissaidtobefullydeveloped.(Note
thatatthispointthewholeofthefluidisnowaffectedbytheboundaryfriction.)
Thelengthofpipebeforefullydevelopedflowisachievedisdifferentforthetwotypesofflow.The
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lengthisknownastheentrylength.
Laminarflowentrylength120diameter
Turbulentflowentrylength60diameter

5.Boundarylayerseparation
Convergentflows:Negativepressuregradients
Ifflowoveraboundaryoccurswhenthereisapressuredecreaseinthedirectionofflow,thefluidwill
accelerateandtheboundarylayerwillbecomethinner.
Thisisthecaseforconvergentflows.

Theacceleratingfluidmaintainsthefluidclosetothewallinmotion.Hencetheflowremainsstableand
turbulencereduces.Boundarylayerseparationdoesnotoccur.

Divergentflows:Positivepressuregradients
Whenthepressureincreasesinthedirectionofflowthesituationisverydifferent.Fluidoutsidethe
boundarylayerhasenoughmomentumtoovercomethispressurewhichistryingtopushitbackwards.
Thefluidwithintheboundarylayerhassolittlemomentumthatitwillveryquicklybebroughttorest,
andpossiblyreversedindirection.Ifthisreversaloccursitliftstheboundarylayerawayfromthesurface
asshownbelow.

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Thisphenomenonisknownasboundarylayerseparation.
Attheedgeoftheseparatedboundarylayer,wherethevelocitieschangedirection,alineofvortices
occur(knownasavortexsheet).Thishappensbecausefluidtoeithersideismovingintheopposite
direction.

Thisboundarylayerseparationandincreaseintheturbulencebecauseofthevorticesresultsinverylarge
energylossesintheflow.
Theseseparating/divergentflowsareinherentlyunstableandfarmoreenergyislostthaninparallelor
convergentflow.

6.Examplesofboundarylayerseparation
Adivergentductordiffuser
Theincreasingareaofflowcausesavelocitydrop(accordingtocontinuity)andhenceapressurerise
(accordingtotheBernoulliequation).

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Increasingtheangleofthediffuserincreasestheprobabilityofboundarylayerseparation.InaVenturi
meterithasbeenfoundthatanangleofabout6providestheoptimumbalancebetweenlengthofmeter
anddangerofboundarylayerseparationwhichwouldcauseunacceptablepressureenergylosses.

TeeJunctions

Assumingequalsizedpipes,asfluidisremoved,thevelocitiesat2and3aresmallerthanat1,the
entrancetothetee.Thusthepressureat2and3arehigherthanat1.Thesetwoadversepressure
gradientscancausethetwoseparationsshowninthediagramabove.

YJunctions
TeejunctionsarespecialcasesoftheYjunctionwithsimilarseparationzonesoccurring.Seethe
diagrambelow.

Downstream,awayfromthejunction,theboundarylayerreattachesandnormalflowoccursi.e.the
effectoftheboundarylayerseparationisonlylocal.Neverthelessfluiddownstreamofthejunctionwill
havelostenergy.
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Bends

Twoseparationzonesoccurinbendsasshownabove.Thepressureatbmustbegreaterthanataasit
mustprovidetherequiredradialaccelerationforthefluidtogetroundthebend.Thereisthusanadverse
pressuregradientbetweenaandbsoseparationmayoccurhere.
Pressureatcislessthanattheentrancetothebendbutpressureatdhasreturnedtoneartheentrance
valueagainthisadversepressuregradientmaycauseboundarylayerseparation.

Flowpastacylinder
Thepatternofflowaroundacylindervarieswiththevelocityofflow.Ifflowisveryslowwiththe
Reynoldsnumber(vdiameter/lessthan0.5,thenthereisnoseparationoftheboundarylayersasthe
pressuredifferencearoundthecylinderisverysmall.Thepatternissomethinglikethatinthefigure
below.

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If2<Re<70thentheboundarylayersseparatesymmetricallyoneithersideofthecylinder.Theendsof
theseseparatedzonesremainattachedtothecylinder,asshownbelow.

AboveaReof70theendsoftheseparatedzonescurlupintovorticesanddetachalternatelyfromeach
sideformingatrailofvorticesonthedownstreamsideofthecylinder.ThistrialinknownasaKarman
vortextrailorstreet.Thisvortextrailcaneasilybeseeninariverbylookingoverabridgewherethere
isapiertoseethelineofvorticesflowingawayfromthebridge.Thephenomenonisresponsibleforthe
whistlingofhangingtelephoneorpowercables.Amoresignificanteventwasthefamousfailureofthe
Tacomanarrowsbridge.Herethefrequencyofthealternatevortexsheddingmatchedthenatural
frequencyofthebridgedeckandresonanceamplifiedthevibrationsuntilthebridgecollapsed.(The
frequencyofvortexsheddingfromacylindercanbepredicted.Wewillnottrytopredictitherebuta
derivationoftheexpressioncanbefoundinmanyfluidmechanicstextbooks.)

Lookingatthefigureabove,theformationoftheseparationoccursasthefluidacceleratesfromthe
centretogetroundthecylinder(itmustaccelerateasithasfurthertogothanthesurroundingfluid).It
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reachesamaximumatY,whereitalsohasalsodroppedinpressure.Theadversepressuregradient
betweenhereandthedownstreamsideofthecylinderwillcausetheboundarylayerseparationifthe
flowisfastenough,(Re>2.)

Aerofoil
Normalflowoveraaerofoil(awingcrosssection)isshowninthefigurebelowwiththeboundarylayers
greatlyexaggerated.

Thevelocityincreasesasairitflowsoverthewing.Thepressuredistributionissimilartothatshown
belowsotransverseliftforceoccurs.

Iftheangleofthewingbecomestoogreatandboundarylayerseparationoccursonthetopoftheaerofoil
thepressurepatternwillchangedramatically.Thisphenomenonisknownasstalling.

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Whenstallingoccurs,all,ormost,ofthe'suction'pressureislost,andtheplanewillsuddenlydropfrom
thesky!Theonlysolutiontothisistoputtheplaneintoadivetoregaintheboundarylayer.Atransverse
liftforceisthenexertedonthewingwhichgivesthepilotsomecontrolandallowstheplanetobepulled
outofthedive.
Fortunatelytherearesomemechanismsforpreventingstalling.Theyallrelyonpreventingtheboundary
layerfromseparatinginthefirstplace.
1. Arrangingtheengineintakessothattheydrawslowairfromtheboundarylayerattherearofthe
wingthoughsmallholeshelpstokeeptheboundarylayerclosetothewing.Greaterpressure
gradientscanbemaintainedbeforeseparationtakeplace.
2. Slowermovingairontheuppersurfacecanbeincreasedinspeedbybringingairfromthehigh
pressureareaonthebottomofthewingthroughslots.Pressurewilldecreaseonthetopsothe
adversepressuregradientwhichwouldcausetheboundarylayerseparationreduces.

3. Puttingaflapontheendofthewingandtiltingitbeforeseparationoccursincreasesthevelocity
overthetopofthewing,againreducingthepressureandchanceofseparationoccurring.

Gobacktothemainindexpage

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