Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ii Paper 2 39C c iii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
A rigid body obeys the no-slip boundary condition. Its outer potential flow generally has an tangential slip velocity at the surface, so the boundary layer must make an velocity correction across thickness . Its strain is therefore , and in two dimensions its dissipation per unit axial length iswhich exceeds the outer dissipation by .
The dominant drag consequently depends on the detailed boundary-layer velocity field and possibly on boundary-layer separation. It cannot be obtained by integrating the outer irrotational strain alone.