BOUNDARY

LAYER
THEORY
LEARNING OUTCOMES
 Explain the concept of momentum thickness and
displacement thickness

WCDKF-KDU
 Solve problems involving laminar and turbulent
boundary layers

2
 IDEAL FLUID
 Ideal fluid: Fluid with no friction
 Also referred to as an inviscid (zero viscosity)
fluid

WCDKF-KDU
 Internal forces at any section within are normal
(pressure forces)
 Practical applications: many flows approximate
frictionless flow away from solid boundaries.
 Do not confuse ideal fluid with a perfect (ideal) gas.

3
 REAL FLUID
 Tangential or shearing forces always develop
where there is motion relative to solid body
 Thus, fluid friction is created. Shear forces

WCDKF-KDU
oppose motion of one particle past another
 Friction forces gives rise to a fluid property
called viscosity.

4
 VISCOSITY
 A measure of a fluid's resistance to angular
deformation,
 e.g., Motor oil: high viscosity, feels sticky

WCDKF-KDU
Gasoline: low viscosity, flows “faster”

 Friction forces result from cohesion and

momentum interchange between molecules.

5
NEWTON’S LAW OF VISCOSITY

WCDKF-KDU
6
WCDKF-KDU
7
TYPES OF FLUID FLOW

WCDKF-KDU
8
LAMINAR FLOW
•Where the fluid
moves slowly in
layers in a pipe,

WCDKF-KDU
without much
mixing among the
layers.

•Typically occurs
when the velocity
is low or the fluid
is very 9

viscous.
TURBULENT FLOW

WCDKF-KDU
10
DIFFERENCE
Laminar Flow
• Re < 2000
• 'low' velocity
• Fluid particles move in
straight lines
• Simple mathematical
analysis possible
• Rare in practice in water
systems.
Turbulent Flow
•Re > 4000
• 'high' velocity
• Particle paths completely
WCDKF-KDU
irregular
• Average motion is in the
direction of the flow
• Cannot be seen by the
naked eye
• Mathematical analysis very
difficult - so experimental
measures are used
• Most common type of
flow. 11
REYNOLDS NUMBER

WCDKF-KDU
12
NO SLIP CONDITION
No slip condition: no
relative motion between
fluid and boundary, i.e.,
fluid in contact with lower
plate is stationary,
whereas fluid in contact
with upper plate moves at
u=U
speed U.
FLUID
ELEMENT
u=0

WCDKF-KDU 13
 INTRODUCTION
 When a real fluid flows past a solid boundary, a layer
of fluid which comes in contact with the boundary
surface adheres to it on account of viscosity. Since

WCDKF-KDU
this layer of the fluid cannot slip away from the
boundary surface it attains the same velocity as that
of the boundary.

 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
14
retardation.
 EXTERNAL FLOWS
One of the most important concepts in understanding
the external flows is the boundary layer development.
For simplicity, we are going to analyze a boundary

WCDKF-KDU
layer flow over a flat plate with no curvature and no
external pressure variation.

U U Dye streak
U U

15
laminar turbulent
transition
 VELOCITY PROFILE

WCDKF-KDU
In the immediate vicinity of the boundary surface,
the velocity of the fluid increases gradually from
zero at boundary surface to the velocity of the
mainstream. This region is known as BOUNDARY 16
LAYER.
CAUSES OF ITS FORMATION
 Large velocity gradient (Larger variation of velocity
in relatively smaller distance) leading to appreciable

WCDKF-KDU
shear stress.
 Consists of two layers:
CLOSE TO BOUNDARY : large velocity
gradient, appreciable viscous forces.
OUTSIDE BOUNDARY LAYER: viscous forces
are negligible, flow may be treated as non-viscous
or inviscid.
17
DEVELOPMENT OF BOUNDARY LAYER
 The boundary layer starts at the leading edge of a solid
surface and the boundary layer thickness increases with
the distance x along the surface.

WCDKF-KDU
 Near the leading edge of the solid surface, where
thickness is small, the flow is laminar (LAMINAR
BOUNDARY LAYER upto Re 3 x 105 ~ 3.2 x 105)
 LAMINAR BOUNDARY LAYER PROFILE –
PARABOLIC

18
DEVELOPMENT OF BOUNDARY
LAYER
 As the thickness of the layer increases in the
downstream direction, the laminar layer becomes

WCDKF-KDU
unstable, leading to transition from laminar to
turbulent boundary layer. Re ~ 5.5 x 105 ( Onset of
turbulent BL)
 Turbulent flow is characterized by greater
interchange of mass momentum and energy within
the fluid particles.

19
 DEVELOPMENT OF BOUNDARY
LAYER

 The velocity profile is more uniform in turbulent BL.

WCDKF-KDU
 Velocity gradient is higher in turbulent BL, hence
shear stresses are higher.
 BL depends on Reynold’s number & also on the
surface roughness. Roughness of the surface adds to
the disturbance in the flow & hastens the transition
from laminar to turbulent

20
DEVELOPMENT OF BOUNDARY
LAYER

WCDKF-KDU
21
BOUNDARY LAYER FOR PIPE FLOW

WCDKF-KDU
22
 BOUNDARY LAYER FOR PIPE FLOW

 Development is similar to that for flow along a flat

plate.
 The thickness of boundary layer is limited to the

WCDKF-KDU
pipe radius because of the flow being within a
confined passage.
 Boundary layers from the pipe walls meet at centre
of the pipe & the entire flow acquires the
characteristics of a boundary layer.
 Beyond this point, the velocity profile does not
change & it is a fully developed flow.
23
PARAMETERS OF BOUNDARY LAYER
 BOUNDARY LAYER THICKNESS (δ)
The velocity within a boundary layer approaches

WCDKF-KDU
the free stream velocity value asymptotically, and
so the limit of boundary layer is not easily defined.
A distance δ is prescribed at the velocity lies
within 1 % of the asymptotic value u = 0.99 U0
δ becomes the measure of the thickness of a region
in which major portion of the velocity distribution
takes place
24
PARAMETERS OF BOUNDARY
LAYER (BL THICKNESS)

WCDKF-KDU
25
 PARAMETERS OF BOUNDARY
LAYER
 DISPLACEMENT THICKNESS (δ*)
Consider an elementary strip of thickness dy & at a

WCDKF-KDU
distance y from the plate surface.

26
PARAMETERS OF BOUNDARY LAYER
(DISPLACEMENT THICKNESS)
 Area of elementary strip dA = b x dy, where b is the width of the
plate of perpendicular to the plane.
 Mass flow rate through this strip = ρ x flow velocity x area =

WCDKF-KDU
ρub x dy
 In absence of the plate, the fluid would have moved with a
constant velocity equal to free stream velocity U0
 Corresponding mass flow rate = ρU0b x dy
 Loss in mass flow rate through the elemental strip = ρU0b x dy -
ρub x dy = ρ(U0 – u) b x dy

Total loss in mass flow rate =


 (U 0  u)bdy 27

0
PARAMETERS OF BOUNDARY LAYER
(DISPLACEMENT THICKNESS)
 Where δ is the value of y at which u = U0
 Hence we define the displacement thickness as the

WCDKF-KDU
thickness of flow moving at the free stream velocity
and having the flow rate equal to the loss in flow rate
on account of boundary layer formation.
 Mass flow rate through distance δ* = ρ x velocity x
area = ρ U0 b δ*

28
PARAMETERS OF BOUNDARY LAYER
(DISPLACEMENT THICKNESS)
 Therefore  


U 0 b*   ( U 0  u )bdy  b (U 0  u )dy

WCDKF-KDU
0 0
 Because ρ is constant for incompressible flow
 


 *  (U 0  u ) / U 0 dy
0

 *  (1  u / U 0 )dy
0

 The displacement thickness may be conceived as the transverse

distance by which the external free stream is effectively
displaced due to the formation of boundary layer
29
MOMENTUM THICKNESS (Θ)
 Loss in mass flow rate due to velocity
defect = ρ(U0 – u)
b dy
 Loss in momentum =

WCDKF-KDU
ρ(U0 – u) b dy x u
 Total loss in momentum =


  u (U
0
0  u ) bdy
 The momentum thickness (θ) is defined
as the thickness of flow moving at free
stream velocity and having the same
momentum flux equal to the deficiency
of the momentum flux in the region of
boundary layer. 30
MOMENTUM THICKNESS (Θ)

 Momentum flux through distance θ = mass flow rate

through θ x velocity
 = [ρ(θ x b)U0] x U0 =ρθbU02

WCDKF-KDU
 

 
bU 02  u (U 0  u )bdy  b u (U 0  u ) dy
0 0



  u / U 0 (1  u / U 0 )dy
0

31
MOMENTUM THICKNESS (Θ)
 Momentum thickness can be conceived as the
transverse distance by which the boundary layer

WCDKF-KDU
should be displaced to compensate for the reduction
in the momentum of the flowing fluid on account of
the boundary layer formation

32
ENERGY THICKNESS (Δ**)
 Mass of fluid = ρubdy
 K.E = ½ * ρu x b x dy x u2

 K.E. in absence of boundary layer

WCDKF-KDU
= ½ * ρu x b x dy x U02
 loss in K.E through the elemental strip
= ½ * ρu x b x dy x (U02 – u2)

1

2 2
  ub ( U 0  u ) dy
 Total loss of K.E. 2
0
 The energy thickness δ** is defined as the thickness of the flow
moving at the free stream velocity & having the energy equal to
the deficiency of energy in the boundary layer region 33
ENERGY THICKNESS (Δ**)
K.E . Through distance δ** = ½ * (ρbδ**U0)xU02
= ½ * (ρbδ**)xU03

WCDKF-KDU

1 1

** 3
b U 0   ub (U 02  u 2 ) dy
2 2
0


** 2
  u / U 0 (1  (u / U 0 ) )dy
0 34
ENERGY THICKNESS (Δ**)
 Energy thickness may be conceived as the transverse
distance by which the boundary layer should be
displaced to compensate for the reduction in energy

WCDKF-KDU
of the flowing fluid on account of the boundary layer
formation
 SHAPE FACTOR =δ*/θ

 SKIN FRICTION COEFFICIENT Cf = ratio of

wall shear stress & dynamic pressure
1 2
Cf   0 /(  U 0 )
2 35