Viscous Flows

This book provides senior undergraduates who are already familiar with inviscid fluid dynamics with some of the basic facts about the modelling and analysis of viscous flows.

Most of the fundamental concepts of unsteady viscous flows have been known since the early part of the century. However, the past decade has seen an unprecedented number of publications in this area. In this monograph I try to connect materials of earlier contributions and synthesize them into a comprehensive entity. One of the main purposes of a monograph, in my opinion, is to fit together in a comprehensive way scattered contributions that provide fragmented information to the readers. The collection of such contributions should be presented in a unified way; continuity of thought and logical sequence of the presentation of ideas and methods are essential. The reader should be able to follow through without having to resort to other references, something that is unavoidable in the case of a research paper or even a review paper. Many of the solutions discussed in the literature address specific practical problems. In fact, in the process of collecting information, I discovered independent lines of investigations, dealing with the same physical problem, but inspired by different practical applications. For example, I found that two groups of investigators have been studying independently the response of a viscous layer to a harmonic external disturbance. One group is con cerned with mass transport and the transport of sediment over the bottom of the ocean, and the other is interested in the aerodynamics of lifting surfaces in harmonically changing environments.

Leonardo wrote, “Mechanics is the paradise of the mathematical sciences, because by means of it one comes to the fruits of mathematics”; replace “Mechanics” by “Fluid mechanics” and here we are. - From the Preface to the Second Edition Although the exponential growth of computer power has advanced the importance of simulations and visualization tools for elaborating new models, designs and technologies, the discipline of fluid mechanics is still large, and turbulence in flows remains a challenging problem in classical physics. Like its predecessor, the revised and expanded Second Edition of this book addresses the basic principles of fluid mechanics and solves fluid flow problems where viscous effects are the dominant physical phenomena. Much progress has occurred in the half a century that has passed since the edition of 1964. As predicted, aspects of hydrodynamics once considered offbeat have risen to importance. For example, the authors have worked on problems where variations in viscosity and surface tension cannot be ignored. The advent of nanotechnology has broadened interest in the hydrodynamics of thin films, and hydromagnetic effects and radiative heat transfer are routinely encountered in materials processing. This monograph develops the basic equations, in the three most important coordinate systems, in a way that makes it easy to incorporate these phenomena into the theory. The book originally described by Prof. Langlois as "a monograph on theoretical hydrodynamics, written in the language of applied mathematics" offers much new coverage including the second principle of thermodynamics, the Boussinesq approximation, time dependent flows, Marangoni convection, Kovasznay flow, plane periodic solutions, Hele-Shaw cells, Stokeslets, rotlets, finite element methods, Wannier flow, corner eddies, and analysis of the Stokes operator.

Designed for higher level courses in viscous fluid flow, this text presents a comprehensive treatment of the subject. This revision retains the approach and organization for which the first edition has been highly regarded, while bringing the material completely up-to-date. It contains new information on the latest technological advances and includes many more applications, thoroughly updated problems and exercises.

This unique book provides a unified and systematic account of internal, external and unsteady slow viscous flows, including the latest advances of the last decade, some of which are due to the author. The book shows how the method of eigenfunctions, in conjunction with least squares, can be used to solve problems of low Reynolds number flows, including three-dimensional internal and unsteady flows, which until recently were considered intractable. Although the methods used are quantitative, much stress is laid on understanding the qualitative nature of these intriguing flows. A secondary purpose of the book is to explain how the complex eigenfunction method can be used to solve problems in science and engineering.Although primarily aimed at graduate students, academics and research engineers in the areas of fluid mechanics and applied mathematics, care has been taken, through the use of numerous diagrams and much discussion, to explain to the non-specialist the qualitative features of these complex flows./a

In addition to theory, this study focuses on practical application and computer implementation in a coherent introduction to boundary integrals, boundary element and singularity methods for steady and unsteady flow at zero Reynolds numbers.

Representing a unique approach to the study of fluid flows, Viscous Flows demonstrates the utility of theoretical concepts and solutions for interpreting and predicting fluid flow in practical applications. By critically comparing all relevant classes of theoretical solutions with experimental data and/or general numerical solutions, it focuses on the range of validity of theoretical expressions rather than on their intrinsic character. This book features extensive use of dimensional analysis on both models and variables, and extensive development of theoretically based correlating equations. The range of applicability of most theoretical solutions is shown to be quite limited; however, in combination they are demonstrated to be more reliable than purely empirical expressions, particularly in novel applications.

This authored monograph provides a detailed discussion of the boundary layer flow due to a moving plate. The topical focus lies on the 2- and 3-dimensional case, considering axially symmetric and unsteady flows. The author derives a criterion for the self-similar and non-similar flow, and the turbulent flow due to a stretching or shrinking sheet is also discussed. The target audience primarily comprises research experts in the field of boundary layer flow, but the book will also be beneficial for graduate students.