Boundary layer development on a semi-infinite suddenly heated vertical plate

Title data

Patterson, John C. ; Graham, Tasman ; Schöpf, Wolfgang ; Armfield, S. W.:
Boundary layer development on a semi-infinite suddenly heated vertical plate.
In: Journal of Fluid Mechanics. Vol. 453 (2002) . - pp. 39-55.
ISSN 0022-1120
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022112001006553

Official URL:

Abstract in another language

The flow resulting from suddenly heating a semi-infinite, vertical wall immersed in a stationary fluid has been described in the following way: at any fixed position on the plate, the flow is initially described as one-dimensional and unsteady, as though the plate is doubly infinite; at some later time, which depends on the position, a transition occurs in the flow, known as the leading-edge effect (LEE), and the flow becomes two-dimensional and steady. The transition is characterized by the presence of oscillatory behaviour in the flow parameters, and moves with a speed greater than the maximum fluid velocities present in the boundary layer. A stability analysis of the one-dimensional boundary layer flow performed by Armfield & Patterson (1992) showed that the arrival times of the LEE determined by numerical experiment were predicted well by the speed of the fastest travelling waves arising from a perturbation of the initial one-dimensional flow. In this paper, we describe an experimental investigation of the transient behaviour of the boundary layer on a suddenly heated semi-infinite plate for a range of Rayleigh and Prandtl numbers. The experimental results confirm that the arrival times of the LEE at specific locations along the plate, relatively close to the leading edge, are predicted well by the Armfield & Patterson theory. Further, the periods of the oscillations observed following the LEE are consistent with the period of the maximally amplified waves calculated from the stability result. The experiments also confirm the presence of an alternative mechanism for the transition from one-dimensional to two-dimensional flow, which occurs in advance of the arrival of the LEE at positions further from the leading edge.

Further data

Item Type:	Article in a journal
Refereed:	Yes
Institutions of the University:	Faculties Faculties > Faculty of Mathematics, Physics und Computer Science Faculties > Faculty of Mathematics, Physics und Computer Science > Department of Physics Faculties > Faculty of Mathematics, Physics und Computer Science > Department of Physics > Former Professors Faculties > Faculty of Mathematics, Physics und Computer Science > Department of Physics > Chair Experimental Physics V Faculties > Faculty of Mathematics, Physics und Computer Science > Department of Physics > Former Professors > Chair Experimental Physics V - Univ.-Prof. Dr. Ingo Rehberg Profile Fields Profile Fields > Advanced Fields Profile Fields > Advanced Fields > Nonlinear Dynamics
Result of work at the UBT:	No
DDC Subjects:	500 Science > 530 Physics
Date Deposited:	05 Oct 2018 10:03
Last Modified:	27 Jan 2023 10:34
URI:	https://eref.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/42989