| Abstract: | The method of matched asymptotic expansions is used to derive composite approximations to the solutions of the Orr-Sommerfeld equation which satisfy Olver's completeness requirement. It is shown that the inner expansions can be obtained to all orders in terms of a certain class of generalized Airy functions, and these expansions are then used to derive approximations to the connection formulae. Because of the linearity of the problem it is possible and convenient to fix the normalization of the inner and outer expansions separately and then to relate them through the central matching coefficients. The Stokes multipliers can then be expressed in terms of the central matching coefficients and the coefficients which appear in the connection formulae. Once the inner and outer expansions have been matched they can be combined, if desired, to form composite approximations of either the additive or multiplicative type. For example, the ‘modified’ viscous solutions of Tollmien emerge in a natural way as first-order composite approximations obtained by multiplicative composition; similarly, the form of the ‘viscous correction’ to the singular inviscid solutions which I conjectured some years ago emerges as a first-order additive composite approximation. Because of the completeness requirement, however, these composite approximations are valid only in certain wedge shaped domains; approximations which are valid in the complementary sectors can then be obtained by the use of the connections formulae. The theory thus provides a relatively simple and explicit method of obtaining higher approximations, and its structure permits a direct comparison of the present results not only with the older heuristic theories but also with the comparison equation method. |
