Streaming Flow past a Horizontal Flat Plate - The Blasius Solution

STREAMING FLOW PAST A HORIZONTAL FLAT PLATE - THE BLASIUS SOLUTION 

Following the prescription for solving boundary-layer problems outlined in the previous section, we begin with the outer potential-flow problem. For this purpose, it is convenient to adopt a fixed system of Cartesian coordinates (x, y), withy normal to the body surface and x tangent to the surface with x = 0 denoting the upstream (or leading) edge of the plate. Then the potential-flow equation is just 

This solution simply implies that the velocity everywhere in the outer region is just the undisturbed free-stream velocity. The flat plate is idealized mathematically as having zero thickness, and, because the no-slip condition does not apply to the potential-flow regime, the fluid moves past the plate with no disturbance whatsoever. 

The next step is to solve the boundary-layer equations (10-40) and (10 41) with dp/dx calculated from (10-39). However, in this case, 

The latter condition corresponds to the physical fact that the fluid is not disturbed at all by the plate until it actually encounters the no-slip condition for x 0. 

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C. Streaming Flow Past a Horizontal Flat Plate - The Blasius Solution... 

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