Flow over a body with development of a steady separation zone as re → ∞

This paper discusses formulation of the total problem of flow of an incompressible liquid over a body, with formation of a closed stationary separation zone as Re . The scheme used is based on the method of matched asymptotic expansions [1]. Following [1], it is postulated that the separated zone is developed (i.e., it is not infinitely fragmented and does not vanish as Re ), and the flow inside it has a definite degree of regularity with respect to Re. With these hypotheses we can use the Prandtl-Batchelor theorem [2], which states that, in the limit as Re , a region of circulating flow becomes vortex flow of an inviscid liquid with constant vorticity . Therefore, a basis for constructing matched asymptotic expansions is the vortex-potential problem (the problem of determining a stream function , satisfying the equation = 0 in the region of translational motion and the equation = in a certain region, unknowna priori, of circulating motion). In the general case the solution of the vortex-potential problem depends on two parameters: the total pressure p_o and the vorticity in the separated zone. These parameters appear in the condition for matching the solutions of the first and second boundary-layer approximations (at the boundary of the separated zone for the end Re values) with the corresponding solutions for the inviscid flow. It is shown in the present paper that the conditions for matching the cyclic boundary layer with the external translational flow are the same additional relations which allow us to close the total problem. Thus, in using the method of matched asymptotic expansions to solve the problem of flow over a body with closed stationary separation zones one must simultaneously consider no less than two approximations.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 2, pp. 28–37, March–April, 1978.The authors thank G. Yu. Stepanov for discussion of the paper and valuable comments.