Görtler Instability of Boundary Layers

Abstract

The problem of centrifugal instability of the laminar boundary layer over a concave wall is posed as one of convective instability penetrating in neutrally stable fluid. It is found that the perturbations have a finite wavenumber; the mechanism of penetration is therefore essential for the selection of the shape of the perturbations. The critical conditions for a number of boundary-layer-like profiles are computed and compared with the experimental results. It is found that the stability characteristics of the boundary layer depend on the presence of points of inflection in the velocity profile.