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Flow past a flat plate at low Reynolds numbers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2006

E. Janssen
E. Janssen
Affiliation:
General Electric Company, San Jose, California
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Abstract

The flow past a flat plate at Reynolds numbers in the range 0·1 to 10·0 is investigated by an analogue method. The solution gives the stream function and the vorticity in the flow field surrounding the plate. From these are obtained the local coefficient of friction, the pressure distribution along the plate, and the total drag coefficient. The drag coefficient approaches the analytical values of Haaser (1950) and of Tomotika & Aoi (1953) as the Reynolds number decreases toward 0·1. The drag coefficient approaches the Blasius solution as the Reynolds number increases. At Reynolds number 10·0 the drag coefficient is still above the Blasius value, but is below the value obtained experimentally by Janour (1951). The difference from the experimental result is attributed for the most part to truncation error.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 3 , Issue 4 , January 1958 , pp. 329 - 343
Copyright
© 1958 Cambridge University Press

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