We examine the flow in a horizontal Hele-Shaw cell in which the undisturbed unidirectional flow at infinity is required to stream around a vertical cylinder spanning the gap between the two (horizontal) plates of the cell. A combination of matched asymptotic expansions and numerical methods is employed to elucidate the structure of the boundary layer near the surface of the cylinder. The two length scales of the problem are the gap, h, and the length of the body, l; it is assumed that h/l<<1. The characteristic Reynolds number based on l is O(1). The length scales associated with the boundary layer and the classical Hele-Shaw flow pattern are O(h) and O(l), respectively.

It is found that the boundary layer contains streamwise vorticity. This vorticity is generated at the three no-slip surfaces (the two plates and the cylinder wall) as a result of the cross-flow induced by the streamwise acceleration/deceleration of the flow around the curved cylinder. The strength of the secondary flow, hence the associated streamwise vorticity, is proportional to changes in body curvature. The validity of the classical Hele-Shaw flow is examined systematically, and higher-order corrections are worked out. This results in a displacement thickness that is roughly 30% of the gap. In other words, the lowest-order correction to the classical Hele-Shaw flow may be obtained by requiring the outer flow (on the scale O(l)) to satisfy the no-penetration boundary condition on a displaced cylinder surface. The boundary layer contains ‘corner’ vortices at the intersections of the horizontal plates and the vertical cylinder surface.