Incompressible Laminar Boundary Layers on a Parabola at Angle of Attack: A Study of the Separation Point

Abstract

The laminar boundary-layer equations were solved for incompressible flow past a parabola at angle of attack. Such flow experiences a region of adverse pressure gradient and thus can be employed to study the boundary-layer separation process. The present solutions were obtained numerically using both implicit and Crank-Nicolson-type difference schemes. It was found that in all cases the point of vanishing shear stress (the separation point) displayed a Goldstein-type singularity. Based on this evidence, it is concluded that a singularity is always present at separation independent of the mildness of the pressure gradient at that point.