NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

Department of Mechanical Engineering

ME2135 Fluid Mechanics II
Part 2 External Incompressible Viscous Flow
Tutorial 3
1. An airplane flies at a speed of 640 km/h at an altitude of 3,000 m. If the boundary layers on
the wing surfaces behave as those on a flat plate, estimate the extent of laminar boundary
layer flow along the wing. Assume a transitional Reynolds number of Rex,cr = 5 x 105. If the
airplane maintains its 640 km/h speed but descends to sea-level elevation, will the portion of
the wing covered by a laminar boundary layer increase or decrease compared with its value at
3,000 m? The kinematic viscosity of air is 1.5 x 10-5 m2/s at sea level. Note that at different
heights, the dynamic viscosities are approximately the same but the densities are different.
2. Water flows at U = 1 m/s past a flat plate with L = 1 m in the flow direction. The boundary
layer is tripped so it becomes turbulent at the leading edge. Evaluate the boundary layer
thickness, , displacement thickness, *, and wall shear
stress, w, at x = L. Assume a 1/6-power turbulent
velocity profile. Develop an algebraic expression for the
variation of wall shear stress with distance along the
surface. Integrate to obtain an algebraic expression for
the total skin friction drag on the surface. Evaluate the
drag for the given conditions.

3. A three-bladed helicopter blade rotates at 200 rpm. If each blade is 3.6 m long and 0.5 m wide,
estimate the torque needed to overcome the friction on the blades if they act as flat plates. For
simplicity, assume laminar boundary layer throughout but check the assumption.