scholarly journals Structure and modelling of the three-dimensional boundary layer on a rotating disk: Progress report

1993 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.K. Eaton
2015 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Lingwood ◽  
P. Henrik Alfredsson

Research on the von Kármán boundary layer extends back almost 100 years but remains a topic of active study, which continues to reveal new results; it is only now that fully nonlinear direct numerical simulations (DNS) have been conducted of the flow to compare with theoretical and experimental results. The von Kármán boundary layer, or rotating-disk boundary layer, provides, in some senses, a simple three-dimensional boundary-layer model with which to compare other more complex flow configurations but we will show that in fact the rotating-disk boundary layer itself exhibits a wealth of complex instability behaviors that are not yet fully understood.


Conversaziones were held on 19 May and 28 June 1955. At the first there were thirty-six exhibits, covering a wide range of research activities. An acoustical demonstration of the instability of the laminar boundary layer on a rotating disk was given by Mr N. Gregory, Mr J. T. Stuart and Mr W. S. Walker, of the Aerodynamics Division, National Physical Laboratory. The rotating disk illustrates a phenomenon which also occurs in the flow over the swept wings of modern aircraft, the instability in the latter case being due to the growth of self-amplifying vortices in the three-dimensional boundary layer over the nose of the wing. By using a stethoscope the vibrations produced by the vortices and by the random turbulent fluctuations at the edge of the disk can clearly be heard.


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