Prandtl boundary-layer equation

For a steady two-dimensional incompressible boundary layer with tangential velocity $u(x,y)$, normal velocity $v(x,y)$, outer tangential velocity $U(x)$, and kinematic viscosity $\nu$,The pressure is uniform across the layer, and the outer Euler equation supplies $-p_x/\rho =UdU/dx$.

For a steady incompressible viscous boundary layer over a flat plate with constant outer speed $U$, the stream function $\psi =\sqrt{\nu Ux}f(y\sqrt{U/(\nu x)})$ reduces the Prandtl boundary-layer equation to the displayed ordinary differential equation. The wall and outer conditions are $f(0)=f^{\prime }(0)=0$ and $f^{\prime }(\infty )=1$. The wall shear is $\rho U\sqrt{\nu U/x}{f}^{\prime \prime }(0)$, so its integral on one plate face of length $L$ is $2\rho U^{2}L{f}^{\prime \prime }(0)/\sqrt{UL/\nu }$. Both equally exposed faces contribute twice this value.

The unsteady form of the Prandtl boundary-layer equation evolves the tangential boundary-layer velocity under advection, outer pressure forcing and normal viscous diffusion. Incompressibility supplies the normal velocity. A stationary wall imposes the no-slip boundary condition, and tangential velocity matches the prescribed outer slip velocity far from the wall. The normal far-field disturbance need not vanish.

For a fixed outer pressure and slip velocity, retain terms linear in a disturbance of a base flow $(U,V)$. The tangential equation has the displayed form and continuity is ${\tilde{u}}_x+{\tilde{v}}_y=0$. Disturbances vanish at the wall and the tangential disturbance vanishes in the far field. A local parallel-profile approximation may freeze the coefficients even when the profile is not an exact global steady solution.

For a frozen real parallel profile and modes proportional to $e^{i\alpha (x-ct)}$, continuity eliminates tangential velocity and gives this third-order equation. Wall conditions are $v=v^{\prime }=0$; outer tangential matching gives $v^{\prime }\to 0$, with bounded $v$. Real coefficients give the spectral symmetry $(\alpha ,c)\mapsto (-\alpha ,c^{\ast })$. For positive real wavenumber, growth means $\mathrm{Im}c>0$.