Hydraulics 2023

CHAPTER 2

BOUNDARY LAYER THEORY

2.1 INTRODUCTION

When real fluid flows pass a solid boundary, a layer of fluid which comes in contact with the
boundary surface adheres to it on account of viscosity; since this layer of fluid can’t slip away
from the boundary surface it attains the same velocity as that of the boundary. In other words, at
the boundary surface there is no relative motion between the fluid and the boundary. This
condition is known as no slip condition. If the boundary is moving, the fluid adhering to it will
have the same velocity as that of the boundary. However, if the boundary is stationary, the fluid
velocity at the boundary surface will be zero. Thus at the boundary surface the layer of the fluid
undergoes retardation. This retarded layer of the fluid further causes retardation for the adjacent
layers of the fluid, there by developing a small region in the immediate vicinity of the boundary
surface in which the velocity of flowing fluid increases gradually from zero at the boundary
surface to the velocity of the main stream. This region is known as boundary layer.

In the boundary region since there is larger variation of velocity in a relatively small distance

there exists a fairly large velocity gradient ) normal to the boundary surface. As such in this

region of boundary layer even if the fluid has small viscosity, the corresponding shear stress τ =

µ( ), is of appreciable magnitude. Further away from the boundary this retardation due to the

presence of viscosity is negligible and the velocity there will be equal to that of the main stream.
The flow may thus be considered to have two regions, one close to the boundary in the boundary
layer zone in which due to larger velocity gradient appreciable viscous forces are produced and
hence in this region the effect of viscosity is mostly confined, and second outside the boundary
layer zone in which the viscous forces are negligible and hence the flow may be treated as non-
viscous or in viscid.
In 1904 prendtl developed the concept of the boundary layer. He provides an important link
between ideal- fluid flow and real-fluid flow. For fluids having relatively small viscosity, the
effect of internal friction in a fluid is appreciable only in a narrow region surrounding the fluid
boundaries. From this hypothesis, the flow outside the narrow region near the solid boundaries

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can be considered as ideal flow or potential flow. Relation with the boundary- layer region can
be computed from the general equations for vitreous fluids, but use of the momentum equation
permits the developing of approximate equation for boundary- layer growth.

Activity:-3.1.1
 What is the difference between idea-fluid and real-fluid?

2.2 Description of the Boundary Layer

It was assumed that the shearing action was occurring in a fluid sandwiched between a moving
belt and a stationary solid surface. The fluid was thus bounded on two sides. It may have
occurred to the reader that such a situation is not common in Hydraulic engineering. Some flow
(e.g. the flow of air around a building) are bounded on one side only, while others (e.g. the flow
through a pipe are completely surrounded by a stationary solid surface To develop the boundary
layer concept, it is helpful to begin with a flow bounded on one side only consider, therefore, a
rectilinear flow passing over a stationary flat plate which lies parallel to the flow as shown in
(Fig 3.1):

Fig 3- 1 Development of a boundary layer

The incident flow (i.e. the flow just upstream of the plate) has a uniform velocity U∞. As the flow
comes into contact with the plate, the layer of fluid immediately adjacent to the plate decelerates
(due to viscous friction) and comes to rest. This follows from the postulate that in viscous fluids
a thin layer of fluid actually ‘adheres’ to a solid surface. There is then a considerable shearing
action between the layer of fluid on the plate surface and the second layer of fluid. The second
layer is therefore forced to decelerate (though it is not quite brought to rest) creating a shearing
action with the third layer of fluid, and so on. As the fluid passes further along the plate, the zone

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in which shearing action occurs tends to spread further out words. This zone is known as a
‘boundary layer’ outside the boundary layer the flow remains effectively free of shear, so the
fluid here is not subjected to viscosity- related forces. The fluid flow outside a boundary layer
may therefore be assumed to act like an ideal fluid.

2.3 Boundary layer equations

Activity:-3.1.2
 Why it is needed to quantify the boundary layer phenomena?

The boundary layer thickness, δ, is the distance in the y-direction from the solid surface to the outer
edge of the boundary layer. The usual convention is to assume that the edge of the boundary layer
occurs where:

The displacement thickness, δ*, is the distance by which a streamline is displaced due to the
boundary layer. Consider the velocity distribution at a section in the boundary layer (Fig 3.2). In
side boundary layer, the velocity is everywhere less than in the free stream. The discharge
through this cross section is correspondingly less than the discharge through the same cross-
sectional area in the free stream. This deficit in discharge can be quantified for unit width and an
equation may then be developed for δ*.
 Deficit of discharge through an element )
 Defect through whole boundary layer section ∫ )

Fig 3-2 Velocity distribution in a boundary layer

In the free stream an equivalent discharge would pass through a layer of depth δ*, so

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∫ )

∫( )

The momentum thickness, θ, is analogous to the displacement thickness. It may be defined as

the depth of a layer in the free stream, which would pass a momentum flux equivalent to the
deficit due to the boundary layer.
 Mass flow through element
 Deficit of momentum flux )

 Deficit through whole boundary layer section ∫ )

In the free stream, an equivalent momentum flux would pass through a layer of depth, θ, and unit
width, so that

∫ )

∫ ( )

The definition of kinetic energy thickness follows the same pattern, leading to the equation:

∫ ( ( ) )

The momentum integral equation is used to relate certain boundary layer parameters so that
numerical estimates may be made. Consider the longitudinal section through a boundary layer
(Fig 3.3), the section is bounded on it outer side by a streamline, BC, and is l m wide. The
discharge across CD is

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Fig 3-3 Longitudinal Section through a boundary layer.

The momentum flux (= density x discharge x velocity):

As BC is a streamline, the discharge across AB must be the same are that across CD:

The incident velocity at AB is , so the momentum flux is:

Boundary layers are actually very thin, so it is reasonable to assume the velocities are in the X –
direction. The loss of momentum flux is due to the frictional shear force ( ) at the solid
surface. Therefore:

∫ ∫

The negative sign follows from the fact that the frictional resistance acts in the opposite sense to
the velocity. The equation may be rearranged to give:

∫ )

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∫ ( )

The frictional shear at the solid surface is not a constant, but varies with X, due to the growth of
the boundary layer. The shear force may therefore be expressed as:

Where: - is the shear stress between the fluid and the solid surface. The momentum integral
equation is therefore:

2.4 Boundary layer along a long thin plate and its characteristics
Consider a long thin plate held stationary in the direction parallel to the flow in a stream of
velocity are shown in Fig 3.4. The plate is said to be held at zero incidence to the velocity of
flow and the velocity of flow is known as ‘free stream velocity’ or ‘ambient velocity’ or
‘potential velocity’ .At the leading edge of the plate the thickness of the boundary layer is zero,
but on downstream, for the fluid in contact with the boundary the velocity of flow is reduced to
zero and at some distance δ from the boundary the velocity is nearly . Hence a velocity
gradient is set up which develops shear resistance to the flow and retards the motion of the fluid.
Near the leading edge of the plate the fluid is retarded in thin layer. In other words, the boundary
layer near the leading edge is relatively thin. As this retarded layer of fluid moves downstream,
due to continued action of shear resistance more and more fluid is retarded. Thus the thickness of
the boundary layer δ goes on increasing in the downstream direction as shown in Fig 3.4

Activity:-3.1.3
 What are the factors which influence the thickness of the boundary layer formation along a flat
smooth plate?

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Fig 3.4 Boundary layer and velocity distribution at Successive points along a flat plate.
As the boundary layer develops up to a certain portion of the plate from the leading edge the
flow in the boundary layer exhibits all the characteristics of laminar flow. This is so irrespective
of whether the flow of the incoming stream is laminar or turbulent. This is known as laminar
boundary layer. If the plate is sufficiently long, then beyond some distance from the leading edge
the laminar boundary layer becomes unstable and the flow in the boundary layer exhibits the
characteristics between theses of laminar and turbulent flow. This region of the boundary layer is
usually small and is known are transition region.

After the transition region the flow in the boundary layer becomes turbulent. In this portion of
the boundary layer there is a rapid increase in its thickness and it is known as turbulent boundary
layer. If the plate is very smooth, even in the region of turbulent boundary layer, there is a very
thin layer just adjacent to the boundary in which the flow is laminar. This thin layer is commonly
known as laminar sub layer, and its thickness in represented by .
The velocity distribution in a laminar boundary layer is parabolic ) ) ; and for
turbulent boundary layer the velocity distribution has been found to follow approximately either

the one-seventh power law or it is logarithmic . For laminar sub layer the
velocity distribution is parabolic, but since its thickness is usually very small, a linear
distribution can be assumed.

The change of boundary layer from laminar to turbulent mainly depend on the velocity of flow
U∞ of the approaching stream of fluid, the length X measured along the plate from the lending
edge, the mass density ρ of fluid and its dynamic viscosity μ. As such the Reynolds number R ex

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⁄ )(the suffix X indicating that it is calculated with the distance x are the characteristic
length) becomes a significant parameter in indicating the change of boundary layer from laminar
to turbulent. The value of Rex at which the boundary layer may change from laminar to turbulent
varies from 3 x 105 to 6 x105.

Activity:-3.1.4
 Change of boundary layer from laminar to turbulent is also affected by several other factors
rather than state in the above, state some of them?

2.5 Laminar boundary layer

For the laminar boundary layer prandtl assumed that (trinomial velocity distribution)

For an assumed distribution which satisfiers the boundary conditions u = 0, y =0 and u = U∞, Y
=  , the boundary – layer thickness as well as the shear at the boundary can be determined. The
velocity distribution is assumed to have the same for at each value of X,

( ) ),

When δ is unknown
The prandtl assumption satisfy the boundary condition shear stress equation can be written

∫ ( )

∫ ( )( )

At the boundary

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( )

Then equate the two expressions for  0 yield

And rearranging gives

Since  is a function of X only in this equation integrating gives:

If  =0 for x = 0, the constant of integration is zero Solving for leads to

In which, is a Reynolds number based on the distance x from the leading edge of

the plate.

Activity:-3.1.5
What do you understand from the above equation?

Substituting the value  in to:-

The shear stress varies inversely as the square root of x and directly as the three halves power of
the velocity. The drag on one side of the plate of unit width is

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∫ √

√
→Laminar boundary layer occur
(NR)L < 5 x 105
And drag coefficient

√ √

The drag can be expressed in terms of a drag coefficient CD Times the stagnation pressure

and the area of plate l (per unit breath)

2.6 Turbulent Boundary Layer

The momentum equation can be used to determine turbulent boundary- layer growth and shear
stress along a smooth plate in a manner analogous to the treatment of the laminar boundary layer.
The universal velocity- distribution law for smooth pipes provides the best basis, but the
calculations are involved. A simpler approach is used prandtl one- seventh- power law .it is

( ) , in which y is measured from the wall of the pipe and is the pipe radius. Applying it

to flat plates produces

( )

And

( )

The method used to calculate the laminar boundary layer gives

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∫( )

By equating the expressions for shear stress, the differential equation for boundary layer
thickness  is obtained as

( )

After integrating and then assuming that the boundary layer is turbulent over the whole length of
the plate so that the initial conditions x = 0,  = 0 can be used.

( )

Solving for δ gives

( )

( )

The thickness increases more rapidly in the turbulent boundary layer, in it the thickness increases

as, , but in the laminar boundary layer  varies as x1/2.

To determine the drag on a smooth flat plate  is eliminated in shear stress equation

( )

And

Then

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( )
( )

( )

The drag per unit width on one side of the plate is

∫ ( )

In terms of the drag coefficient:

Assumed a logarithmic velocity distribution for the flow in the boundary layer and obtained the
semi- empirical relation as noted below

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2.7 Separation of boundary layer

On a long flat plate the boundary layer continues to grow in the downstream direction, regardless
of the length of the plate, when the pressure gradient remains zero, with the pressure decreasing
in the downstream direction, as in the conical reducing section the boundary layer tends to be
reducing in thickness.
For adverse pressure gradients, for that pressure increasing in the downstream direction, the
boundary layer thickness rapidly increases. The adverse gradient and the boundary shear
decrease the momentum in the boundary layer, and if both act over a sufficient distance, they
cause the boundary layer to come to rest. This phenomenon is called separation of the boundary
layer.

Fig3.5: - Boundary layer separation along a flat plate

Activity:-3.1.6
At least write three methods of controlling flow separation?

2.8 Drag and lift on a sphere and cylinder

Take an airfoil immersed in a fluid moving with velocity V

Fig3.6: - Lift and drag in airfoil immersed in water

F = f (A, μ, V, ρ, K)

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K = Bulls modules of elasticity of the fluid

Analyzing the above equation then dimensional analyses established the following relation ship
Then, Drag force:-

( ) [ ]

( )

Lift force

( )

Where: - CD =Drag coefficient

CL =Lift coefficient
√ F is the resultant force

( )

Where:-

On a sphere
At very low Reynolds number, there is no flow separation from a sphere, the wave is laminar and
the drag is predominantly friction drag. Stokes has shown analytically, for very low Reynolds
number flows where inertia forces may be neglected, that drag force on a sphere of
dynamometer, D, moving at speed, V, through a fluid of Viscosity,  is given by

And

( )

̅̅̅̅

̅̅̅̅

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Therefore, ̅̅̅̅

On Cylinder
Two type of flow condition prevail when the fluid move around on stationary cylindrical
members
 Irotating uniform flow around a cylinder
 Irotating flow of constant Circulation around a cylinder.

(a)
(b)
Fig.3.7:- circulation and lift in flow about a cylinder
Where:-
 R= Raider of cylinder
 V = Uniform flow of fluid
 V1 =Velocity at angle 
 V2 = velocity when the circulation  is there around cylinder
Then:-

For stagnation points

The magnitude of the lift exerted on the cylinder due to the composite flow pattern may be
determined by integrating over the entire surface of the cylinder, the components of the pressure
forces on elementary surface areas normal to the direction of uniform flow. Applying Bernoulli’s

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equation between any point in the unaffected flow and any point on the surface of the cylinder,
the pressure at any point on the cylinder is obtained as

In which P0 is the pressure in the uniform flow at some distance a head of the cylinder by
substituting the value U from the above expediting

* ( ) +

The lift acting on an elementary surface area of the cylinder is given by:
)
In which L is the length of the cylinder. The negative sign has been introduced because the
pressure force is always directed towards the surface, and hence for being positive its
component is negative being in the vertical down ward direction the total FL exerted on the
cylinder is obtained by integration

∫ )

∫[ { ( )}]

Which is reduces to a simple relationship:-

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