Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2018 / ii / Paper 1 / 38C / Solution

At the rigid surface, the no-slip boundary condition and no penetration giveAt the horizontal free surface, the kinematic boundary condition and the stress boundary condition areHere surface tension is absent and the inviscid air exerts no tangential traction.

The incompressible Stokes equation isUse the Cartesian streamfunction convention $u={\psi }_y$, $v=-{\psi }_x$ and setThenand the wall and zero-shear conditions becomeThe two momentum equations readEquality of mixed derivatives gives $f^{(4)}=0$, so the boundary conditions implyIntegrating for the pressure and imposing the normal-stress condition at $y=h$ determinesThe complete instantaneous velocity and pressure fields are thereforeIndeed, with the viscous stress tensor $\sigma =-pI+\mu (\nabla \mathbf{u}+\nabla {\mathbf{u}}^T)$, these expressions satisfy both traction conditions. Evaluating the vertical velocity at the material surface gives the pressure-driven thinning of a uniform Stokes layer:Thus