An extension of the Thwaites method for calculation of incompressible laminar boundary layers

Abstract

Although the laminar boundary layer is relatively easy to handle by modern numerical methods, many design codes in engineering applications still employ integral methods because of the associated computational speed and economy. A recent work on a transition zone model (Dey and Narasimha), has found that currently used integral methods for laminar boundary layers are in general not satisfactory in highly accelerating flows. Certain extensions and modifications of the Thwaites method have been proposed here to handle large favorable pressure gradients and to provide certain additional boundary-layer parameters required in transition-zone modeling. This proposal extends the range of the Thwaites method to L = 0.4.