Determination of the magnitude of the separation criterion for a three-dimensional laminar boundary layer

Abstract

A separation criterion, i.e., a definite relationship between the external flow and the boundary layer parameters [1], can be used to estimate the possibility of the origination of separation of a two-dimensional boundary layer. A functional form of the separation criterion has also been obtained for a three-dimensional boundary layer [2] on the basis of dimensional analysis. As in the case of the two-dimensional boundary layer, locally self-similar solutions can be used to determine the specific magnitude of the separation criterion as a function of the values of the governing parameters. Locally self-similar solutions of the two-dimensional laminar boundary-layer equations have been found at the separation point for a perfect gas with a linear dependence of the coefficient of viscosity on the temperature (Ω=1) and Prandtl number P=1 [3, 4]. The influence of blowing and suction has been studied for this case [5]. Self-similar solutions have been obtained for Ω=1, P=0.723 for the limit case of hypersonic perfect gas flow [6]. Locally self-similar solutions of the three-dimensional laminar boundary-layer equations at the separation point are presented in [7] for a perfect gas with Ω=1, P=1. There are no such computations for Ω≠1, P≠1; however, the results of computing several examples for a two-dimensional flow [8] show that the influence of the real properties of a gas can be significant and should be taken into account. Self-similar solutions of the two- and three-dimensional boundary-layer equations at the separation point are found in this paper for a perfect gas with a power-law dependence of the viscosity coefficient on the enthalpy (Ω=0.5, 0.75, 1.0) for different values of the Prandtl number (P=0.5, 0.7, 1.0) in a broad range of variation of the external stream velocity (v12/2h1* = 0–0.99) and the temperature of the streamlined surface. Magnitudes of the separation criterion for a laminar boundary layer have been obtained on the basis of these data.