Blasius' Theorem
Blasius' Theorem
Blasius' Theorem
SOLUTION SET #4
[1] Blasius’ theorem says that the force per unit length of a body of constant cross-sectional
profile Σ is given by
dW 2
I
i
F̄ = Fx − iFy = 2 ρ dz ,
dz
C
where C = ∂Σ is a closed curve which traces the boundary of Σ, and W (z) is the complex
potential.
Consider a 2D flow with stream function ψ(x, y) = A(x − c)y, where A and c are real
constants. A circular cylinder of radius a is introduced into this flow, with its center at the
origin. Find W (z) for the resulting flow. Use Blasius’ theorem to calculate the force per
unit length exerted on the cylinder.
= i
2ρ · 2πi · 2A2 ca2 = −2πρA2 ca2 .
Thus, Fx = −2πρA2 ca2 and Fy = 0.
[2] Show that the Joukowski transformation Z = z + a2 /z can be written in the form
z−a 2
Z − 2a
= ,
Z + 2a z+a
1
so that n o
arg(Z − 2a) − arg(Z + 2a) = 2 arg(z − a) − arg(z + a) . (1)
Consider the circle in the (x, y) plane which passes through z = −a and a with its center
at z0 = ia ctn β. Show that the above transformation takes this circle into a circular arc
between Z = −2a and Z = +2a, with subtended angle 2β (see figure). Obtain an expression
for the complex potential in the Z plane when the flow is uniform at speed V and parallel
to the real axis. Show that the velocity will be finite at both the leading and tailing edges
if Γ − −4πV a ctn β.
We have
Z − 2a z + a2 z −1 − 2a (z − a)2 /z (z − a)2
= 2 −1
= 2
= .
Z + 2a z + a z + 2a (z + a) /z (z + a)2
Taking the argument and using arg(z1 /z2 ) = arg(z1 ) − arg(z2 ) the desired result follows
immediately.
Next let z0 = ia ctn β. The radius of the circle in the z-plane is b, where
so b = a/ sin β. The locus of points on this circle may be written as z(θ) = z0 − ib eiθ , where
θ ∈ [0, 2π). Thus,
z ± a = e∓iβ − eiθ · ia csc β ,
and we have 2
e−iβ − eiθ
Z + 2a
= .
Z − 2a eiβ − eiθ
2
Now
e−iβ − eiθ −iβ e
i(β+θ) − 1
= −e ·
eiβ − eiθ eiβ − eiθ
ei(β+θ)/2 − e−i(β+θ)/2 ei(β+θ)/2
= −e−iβ · ·
ei(β−θ)/2 − e−i(β−θ)/2 ei(β+θ)/2
sin 21 (β + θ)
= −e−iβ · .
sin 21 (β − θ)
Thus,
arg(Z + 2a) − arg(Z − 2a) = 2π − 2β ,
which says that the circle in the z-plane maps to an arc in the Z-plane as shown in fig. 1.
we have that F (Z) diverges with an inverse square root singularity as Z approaches ±2a.
We now show that W ′ (z) vanishes when Z = ±2a, cancelling the singularity, provided
Γ = −4πV a ctn β. In this case,
( )
′ b2 /a2 Γ/aV 1
W (z = a) = V 1 − +
(1 − i ctn β)2 2πi 1 − i ctn β
( )
1 2i cos β
=V 1− +
(sin β − i cos β)2 sin β − i cos β
n o
= V 1 + e−2iβ − 2 cos βe−iβ = 0 ,
which vanishes! To find out the value of the velocity at the leading and trailing edges, set
z = a + δz. An intelligent parameterization here is to take δz = −iǫa csc β eiβ and see what
happens for complex ǫ. We then have
z − z0 = z − ia ctn β = a − ia ctn β − iǫa csc β eiβ
ia
=− (1 + ǫ) eiβ .
sin β
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Then
( )
′ e−2iβ 2 cos β e−iβ
W (z) = V 1 + −
(1 + ǫ)2 1+ǫ
( )
e−2iβ ǫ
=V 1− · = 2iV sin β e−iβ ǫ + O(ǫ2 ) .
1+ǫ 1+ǫ
√
Next, we have F ′ (Z) = z/ Z 2 − 4a2 . We write Z 2 − 4a2 = (Z + 2a)(Z − 2a). For Z ≈ 2a
we may write Z + 2a = 4a + O(ǫ), and
a2 (z − a)2 2
Z − 2a = z + − 2a = = a −iǫ csc β eiβ .
z z
Thus,
z 1 a 1 i e−iβ
F ′ (Z) = √ ·√ = √ · √ = .
Z + 2a Z − 2a 2 a −iǫ a csc β eiβ 2 ǫ csc β
Thus we see that W ′ (z) vanishes as ǫ1 and F ′ (Z) diverges as ǫ−1 . Multiplying and taking
the limit ǫ → 0, we obtain the complex velocity at the edge Z = 2a to be
V = −V sin2 β e−2iβ .
[3] Show that an array of N identical point vortices of circulation Γ , placed equally about
a circle of radius a, will rotate at a constant angular frequency Ω. Find the value of Ω.
Let ω = e2πi/N . The locations of the vortices are taken to be zn = aω n where n ∈ {1, N };
note that zn+N = zn . The complex potential for a vortex located at the origin is W (z) =
(Γ/2πi) log z, and the corresponding complex velocity field is v̄(z) = Γ/2πiz. The complex
velocity of the j th vortex is a sum of contributions for all the others and is given by
N −1
Γ ω̄ j X 1
v̄j = .
2πia n=1 1 − ω n
Suppose N is odd. Then we pair the terms in the above sum: n with N − n. Note that
1 1 1 ωn
+ = + =1 ,
1 − ω n 1 − ω N −n 1 − ωn ωn − 1
since ω N = 1. There are (N − 1)/2 such pairs, so we conclude that
N −1
v̄j = Γ ω̄ j .
4πia
When N is even, we again pair n with N − n. The value n = N/2 is its own mate, and
there are (N − 2)/2 bona fide pairs. Thus,
N −1
X 1 N −2 1 N −1
= + = ,
1 − ωn 2 1 − ω N/2 2
n=1
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since ω N/2 = −1. Thus once again we have v̄j = (N − 1)Γ ω j /4πia. Note that uniform
rotation in the (x, y) plane about the origin with angular frequency Ω means
and thus the complex velocity is v̄ = Ω (−y − ix) = −iΩz̄. For the j th vortex, zj = aω̄ j .
Thus, we conclude Ω = (N − 1)Γ/4πa2 .
[4] Consider a large circular disk of radius R executing a prescribed angular motion θ(t).
The disk is immersed in a fluid under conditions of constant pressure. Let the plane of the
disk lie at z = 0. Assume that the fluid velocity takes the form
with vr = vz = 0.
(a) Write down the Navier-Stokes equations for the fluid. Assume you can neglect the
(v · ∇) v term. (Under what conditions is this true?) Show that you obtain the diffusion
equation. What are the boundary conditions on the fluid motion?
∂Ω ∂ 2Ω
=ν . (4)
∂t ∂z 2
In deriving this, it is useful to write
(b) Our goal is next to find a complete solution to Ω(z, t) in terms of the function θ(t). To
this end, we perform the following analysis. Define the spatial Laplace transform,
Z∞
Ω̌L (κ, t) ≡ dz e−κz Ω(z, t) . (8)
0
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You may assume in this problem that the fluid motion is symmetric about z = 0, i.e.
Ω(z, t) = Ω(−z, t), so we only have to consider the region z ≥ 0. The inverse Laplace
transform is
c+i∞
dκ +κz
Z
Ω(z, t) = e Ω̌L (κ, t) (9)
2πi
c−i∞
where the contour lies to the left of any branch cut or singularity on the line Im (κ) = 0.
Later on we will see that we can take c = 0, so the contour lies along the axis Re (κ) = 0.
Show directly that
∂t − νκ2 Ω̌L (κ, t) = Fκ (t) ,
(10)
where the function Fκ (t) on the RHS depends on Ω(0, t) and Ω ′ (0, t) (prime denotes differ-
entiation with respect to z). Find Fκ (t).
We have that
Z∞ ( )
−κz ∂Ω ∂ 2Ω
0 = dz e −ν
∂t ∂z 2
0
= ∂t − ν κ2 Ω̌L (κ, t) + ν Ω ′ (0, t) + κ Ω(0, t) .
(11)
Thus,
∂t − ν κ2 Ω̌L (κ, t) = −ν Ω ′ (0, t) + κ Ω(0, t) .
(12)
(c) Integrate the above first order equation from some arbitrary initial time t = t0 to
final time t and obtain Ω(z, t) in terms of the functions Ω(z, t0 ), Ω(0, t), and Ω ′ (0, t).
Show that the term involving Ω(z, t0 ) is a transient which decays to zero in the limit
t0 → −∞. Dropping the transient, performing the inverse Laplace transform, and rotating
the κ contour so that κ = ik, where k runs along the real axis, show that
Z∞ Zt
dk ikz 2 (t−t′ )
h i
Ω(z, t) = −ν e dt′ e−νk Ω ′ (0, t′ ) + ikΩ(0, t′ ) . (13)
2π
−∞ −∞
Integrating, we obtain
Zt h i
νκ2 (t−t0 ) 2 ′
Ω̌L (κ, t) = e Ω̌L (κ, t0 ) − ν dt′ eνκ (t−t ) Ω ′ (0, t′ ) + ikΩ(0, t′ ) . (14)
t0
The first term is a transient which is negligible in the limit t0 → −∞. Remember that κ is
purely imaginary along its integration contour, so we can set κ ≡ ik with k real. Applying
the inverse Laplace transform, we recover the desired result.
(d) Find the total torque on the disk N (t). You will need to integrate r × f over the surface
of the disk, using the viscous stress tensor of the fluid. Show that
Nfluid (t) = πη R4 Ω ′ (0, t) , (15)
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where η = ρ ν is the shear viscosity.
The viscous force per unit surface area is fi = σ̃ij nj , where nj is the surface normal and
∂vi ∂vj 2
σ̃ij = η + − δ ∇ · v + ζ δij ∇ · v (16)
∂xj ∂xi 3 ij
is the viscous stress tensor. For the flow v = r Ω(z, t) φ̂, the divergence vanishes. The
differential viscous torque dN = dN ẑ on the disk is then
dN = xfy − yfx dA
∂vy ∂vx ∂Ω
=η x −y dA = η r dA . (17)
∂z ∂z ∂z
ZR
∂vφ
N = 2 dr 2πr r η = πηR4 Ω ′ (0, t) . (18)
∂z
0
Note the factor of two, which arises from integration over both sides of the disk.
(e) By going to Fourier space in frequency, the k integral can be done. Show that
i eik+ z n ′ o
Ω̂(z, ω) = − Ω̂ (0, ω) + ik+ Ω̂(0, ω) , (19)
k+ − k−
Z∞ Z∞ Zt
iωt dk ikz 2 ′
h i
Ω̂(z, ω) = −ν dt e e dt′ e−νk (t−t ) Ω ′ (0, t′ ) + ikΩ(0, t′ ) (21)
2π
−∞ −∞ −∞
Z∞ Z∞ Z∞
dk ikz 2
h i
= −ν e ds e−νk s eiωs dt eiω(t−s) Ω ′ (0, t − s) + ikΩ(0, t − s)
2π
−∞ 0 −∞
Z∞
dk eikz ′ −i eik+ z h ′ i
=− Ω̂ (0, ω) + ik Ω̂(0, ω) = Ω̂ (0, ω) + ik+ Ω̂(0, ω) ,
2π k2 − iω
ν
k+ − k−
−∞
where we assume z > 0 in the last line. There is a subtlety here which is worth mentioning.
In the above
p derivation, we have assumed ω is real and positive. For general ω, the roots
are k = ± iω/ν and we define k+ to be the root with the positive imaginary part.
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(f) Suppose the disk is suspended from a torsional fiber. Let the disk’s moment of inertia
be I and the restoring torque due to the fiber be Nfiber = −Kθ. Show that the equation
for the oscillation frequency of the disk is
from which we obtain the desired result of eqn. ??. To be perfectly correct, we should write
this as
ω 2 + eiπ/4 ων1/2 ω 3/2 sgn(Re ω) − ω02 = 0 , (27)
Suppose ω0 = 0. Then we have two solutions, ω = 0 and ω = −iων . For small ω0 , the latter
will continue to be highly overdamped. The former solution becomes finite, and neglecting
the O(ω 2 ) term (since ω is small), we find
4/3
ω = e−iπ/6 ω0 ων−1/3 . (28)
1 4/3 −1/3
The damping rate is then γ = −Im ω = 2 ω0 ων .
In the opposite limit, where ων ≪ ω0 , write ω = ω0 + δω and solve to first order in δω,
obtaining
√
δω = − 12 eiπ/4 ω0 ων . (29)
p
The viscous damping leads to a frequency shift and damping rate −∆ω = γ = ω0 ων /8.
Note that ∆ω < 0, as is the case with a simple damped harmonic oscillator.
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Note: There is an easier way to solve this problem, if we use some intuition. The diffusion
equation Ωt = νΩzz and the boundary conditions are linear, which suggests we write our
solution as
Ω(z, t) = A(ω) e−Q|z| e−iωt . (30)
This is a solution to the diffusion equation if νQ2 = −iω. p Of the two roots for Q(ω), we
need the one with the positive real part, so Q = e −iπ/4 ω/ν. Setting z = 0 and using
Ω̇ = θ, we find A(ω) = −iω θ̂(ω). The Fourier component of the viscous torque on the disk
is then
which when plugged into the equation of motion for the disk yields the above equation for
the oscillation frequency.