Monash University Vacation Project Pavaman Bilgi 19334915

VACATION SCHOLARSHIP PROJECT REPORT

Student: Pavaman Bilgi

Supervisor: A/Prof Michael Page

Project: 2 dimensional Stokes flow over an inclined plate

Duration: 6 weeks (07/12/09 to 18/07/09 and 04/01/10 to 29/01/10)

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Monash University Vacation Project Pavaman Bilgi 19334915

1. Introduction

The analytical solution for two dimensional fluid flow near the edge of a flat plate is known to yield a value
of infinite vorticity at the edge of the plate (Chorlton & O'Neill, 1986). It is derived by considering uniform
flow past a semi-infinite flat plate and noting that sufficiently close to the corner, the non-slip condition
imposed at the boundary enforces conditions of Stokes flow.

The fact of infinite vorticity at the plates edge is not realised by numerical formulations to solve the fluid
equations for obvious reasons and especially so for a plate of finite length. It is desired to somewhat
resolve this discrepancy by employing special treatment for the numerical solution in the close vicinity of
the plate ends using the analytical solution for that region.

Stokes flow is one of zero Reynolds number where the viscous forces are much larger than the convective
forces. Under these conditions, the non-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations reduce to,

Momentum: + 1 2 = 0

Continuity: = 0

Using the definitions of the stream function and vorticity, i.e.

= ; =

where = 0,0, , the equations transform to,

2 = 0 (1)

2 = (2)

This project concerns the numerical solution of a Stokes flow past a flat plate of a finite length. This will
ensure the vorticity decays from the plate end point according to the analytical solution by Carrier & Lin
(1948) which suggests that,

1 2
+ 1 2
+ 3 2
+ cos 2 (3)

where denotes the radius measured from the corner of the plate.

2. Solving the equations

The second order centred difference technique is applied to the dimensionless equations (1) and (2). Given
an inflow incidence angle of the boundary conditions for the problem become that:

On the boundary: = sin + cos , = 0

On the plate: = 0, = 0 and = 0 (Non-slip condition)

The centre difference expression is formulated in the usual way:

1, 2, + +1, , 1 2, + , +1
+ =0 (4)
2 2
Monash University Vacation Project Pavaman Bilgi 19334915

1, 2, + +1, , 1 2, + , +1
+ = , (5)
2 2

These equations define two equations for stream function and vorticity for each point within the domain
where the domain has a total of points. Thus the solution will involve the inversion of a square
matrix of dimension, 2 .

Since no-slip conditions are observed on the plate must be represented twice for the top and the bottom
due to differing values of vorticity on either side. Thus the non-slip condition ( = 0) must be applied
on both sides. This is done by setting , 1 = , +1 at points on the plate, otherwise known as the Thom
condition for estimating on the boundary. This condition results in equation (5) being modified for points
2 , 1 2 , +1
on the plate to = , or = , depending on the top or bottom. = 0 is similarly
2 2
2 1, 2 1,
enforced at the two end points which makes equation (5) take the form, = , or = ,
2 2
depending on the left or right side of the plate. Refer to Appendix A for MATLAB coded solver.

3. Infinite vorticity

The solution obtained for vorticity is shown below for a grid size of = 121 = 122 and a domain
size of 3 2 where is the length of the plate.

Figure 1 Vorticity mesh plot

As can be seen the vorticity at the end points of the plate are far from infinite as the math predicts. This
error consequently has an effect on the entire solution and so warrants an alternative method of treating
the vorticity at the points that depend on the plate end points which are depicted in figure 2.
Monash University Vacation Project Pavaman Bilgi 19334915

Figure 2 Dependent points on the left edge of the plate

The equations for dependent points (A E) in figure 2 are represented in equation (4). The new treatment
must resolve the issues created by referencing the points at the ends of the plate which are theoretically
calculated to be positions of infinite vorticity.

3.1 First method

One way to do this is by making use of the knowledge that sufficiently close to the end of the plate (such
that the plate can be said to be semi-infinite) equation (3) applies. This then allows an approximation of
2 2 based on points of our choosing.

From equation (3) we can state approximately that

= 1 2
+ 1 2 (6)

and hence that,

2 2 = 3 4 5 2
4 3 2 (7)

for any . It remains to find the constants and which can readily be determined from the information at
neighbouring points. Suppose we wish to find 2 2 = . From equation (6),
3
= + 2 (8)

3
2 = 2 + 2 2 (9)

Solving equations (8) and (9) for and yields,

= 2 2 2 (10)

1
= 2 2 (11)

Substituting equations (10) and (11) into equation (7) evaluated at = ,

1
2 2 = = 7 4 2 2 (12)
42
Equation (12) is an expression for the second derivative of the vorticity that can be used at the dependent
points identified earlier without using the value at = = 0.
Monash University Vacation Project Pavaman Bilgi 19334915

3.2 Second method

A second method implementing the knowledge of equation (3) is based around transforming the governing
equations by using a scaled vorticity (and scaled stream function). Equation (3) tells us that the appropriate
scaling is as this variable will be well-behaved and regular as 0. A similar scaling should be applied
to . We consider the points in the -direction (A, C, D and F) and the -direction (B and E) separately.
Using the aforementioned scaling,

= (13)

= (14)

This leads to,

2 3
2
= + =
4 2

so that,

3
+ = (15)
4 2

The Taylor expansion of about = 0 is,

= 2 0 2 + 3 0 6 + (16)

taking into account the boundary conditions at the plate ( = 0 and 0 = 0).

Substituting (16) into (15) we arrive at,

3 5
= 0 + 0 +
8 8

so that,

0 = 3 0 8 (17)

Substituting the Thom condition stated earlier into (17),

3 = 3 =
0 = = (18)
4 2 4 3 2

We now have an expression for the scaled vorticity, 0 at the end point of the plate in terms of the stream
function value at points either at A, C, D or F. Equation (1) evaluated at points A, C, D or F while writing
2 2 in terms of becomes,

3 2
+ 2 + 2 1 2
=0 (19)
4

Applying the centred difference approximation to the terms in equation (19) we arrive at,

2 21 + 0 2 1 31 2
+ + = 0 (20)
2 2 2 4 2 2

where 2 = =2 and 1 = = .
Monash University Vacation Project Pavaman Bilgi 19334915

Finally, substituting equation (18) into (20) and re-inserting the original variables, and , we have that,

2 51 2 1 91
2 + 2
= (21)
2 4 8 4

4. Testing results

Method 1 was implemented first and then compared to method 2. Upon deciding on the more accurate
method further testing would allow an analysis to be made on the effectiveness of the chosen method.

The criterion for which each method was judged was based on how well the vorticity solution obeyed the
function in equation (3). This was determined by looking at a plot of against . We expect that for
constant this function will approach a constant value close to the plate edge. For the control case of no
treatment to the critical points, a scaled vorticity plot for a grid of 91x92 is shown below in figure (3).

Figure 3 Scaled vorticity vs radius

Points with the blue + markers

indicate points at = 0 and
180. We can see that points at
constant show some
indication of reaching a
constant value as 0. This is
further established by the
surface plot of figure 4.

Figure 4 Surface plot

Monash University Vacation Project Pavaman Bilgi 19334915

The figures below show the results of using methods 1 and 2 outlined in section 3 for the same grid size as
used to obtain the results in figures (3) and (4).

Figure 5 Scaled vorticity using method 1

Figure 6 Scaled vorticity using method 2

Examining figures (5) and (6) we find that method 2 is clearly superior, albeit not a great improvement over
the control case. For constant method 1 causes to change even more rapidly as 0 as shown in
figure (5). This is in contradiction with equation (3). Method 2 however produces a much more reasonable
result in figure (7) where we can clearly see the scaled vorticity gradually approaching a constant value. This
is a possible indication that the approximation made in equation (6) is inadequate.
Monash University Vacation Project Pavaman Bilgi 19334915

4.2 Parametric testing of method 2

Up to now we have only looked at solutions for the case of = 0. We wish to know whether the solution
behaviour of method 2 is the same for different pitch angles and also different domain sizes. Thus a
parametric study using three different domain sizes and pitch angles was conducted and the solutions
presented below. The domain size was varied from 3 by 2 plate-lengths to 7 by 6 plate-lengths while the
pitch angle was varied from 0 to 45 to 90. The grid resolution was kept constant throughout.

Figure 7 No treatment, 45 degree pitch Figure 10 No treatment, 45 degree pitch, large domain

Figure 8 No treatment, 90 degree pitch Figure 11 No treatment 90 degree pitch, large domain

Figure 9 No treatment, 0 degree pitch, large domain

Figure 12 Method 2, 45 degree pitch
Monash University Vacation Project Pavaman Bilgi 19334915

Figure 13 Method 2, 90 degree pitch Figure 15 Method 2, 45 degree pitch, large domain

Figure 14 Method 2 0 degree pitch, large domain

Figure 16 Method 2, 90 degree pitch, large domain

We can see from the above figures that for angles greater than 0 method 2 also shows weakness
compared to the control case of no special treatment. This indicates the need for a better model or an
improvement of the existing model for the dependent points shown in figure 2, or a change in the
numerical scheme used to solve the problem.

Additionally, increasing the domain size increases the quality of the solution due to the increased distance
the boundary conditions are imposed at. However the solution of method 2 is still unsatisfactory at the
pitch angles of 45 and 90.

5. Conclusion

Two different modifications to the finite difference formulation of the equations for Stokes flow were
proposed for the treatment of points referencing end points on the plate which in theory are supposed to
be points of infinite vorticity. The basis of both methods is in finding an alternative expression for the
2 2 or the 2 2 as appropriate. The better method was that which solved the equations in terms
of the transformed variables, and . While this method seemingly provided a marginally better solution
for an incidence angle of = 0, in the parametric testing, it performed worse than the solution with no
treatment for all other pitch angles.