Cheg 355 - Lecture Notes - Nov. 7, 2006

Class notes

The main points of the lecture were

• Inviscid, Irrotational, Potential Flows: Flow past a Cylinder

Goals:

• Calculate the velocity distribution for inviscid, irrotational flow via solution to Laplace's equation.
• Know what boundary layer separation and pressure recovery mean!

Reading

• The class notes.
• BS&L, chapter 4
• Multi-Media Fluid Mechanics: Work through Dynamics: Potential Flows.

Additional Readings:

Today we talked about inviscid flow past a cylinder, and by analogy invicid flow past a wing. The wings on airplanes are really very simple things in comparison to the complex dynamics associated with the flight of living organisms such as birds and insects. The key difference is that the wings of planes pretty much stay fixed in orientation while air blows over them, while for animals the wing is in usually in constant motion. This is particularly true for insects: it has often been said that a bumblebee really shouldn't be able to fly, yet somehow it manages anyway. For a fascinating look at the world of insect flight, check out the research being done at Berkeley described here.

Demonstration: