Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-theoretical-mechanics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2008/a/3/iii/solution
Past exam of the theoretical mechanics course of the University of Oxford 2008 A 3 iii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
The normalization denominator vanishes when , namely . The relevant first root above is radians. The zero root is not the critical angle of interest.
For the denominator is positive. The profile is even, with outward flow near the bisector and reverse flow adjacent to each wall:It vanishes at the walls and at ; its minima are at . The following sketch shows the leading approximation to for small .
Leading radial wedge-flow profiles: outward central flux and reverse wall layers grow near the critical angle
. Details. As approaches from below, the large positive central and negative wall contributions nearly cancel while the prescribed net flux remains one. The leading Stokes solution diverges, so the supposedly small nonlinear inertial term can no longer be treated as a perturbation. This is the critical angle of a flux-normalized Stokes wedge flow. It demonstrates breakdown of this regular expansion; it does not establish that the exact viscous flow must have infinite speed or that a global steady branch continues through the critical angle.
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