Hydrodynamic Stability of a Laminar Boundary Layer with Transverse Curvature Effect

A study of the hydrodynamic stability of the boundary layer with transverse curvature has been made on the basis of linear theory. Defining ζ as the transverse curvature parameter, (essentially the ratio of boundary layer thickness to the radius of transverse curvature), it is found that axisymmetric mode of disturbance is the most critical up to O(ζ). The transverse curvature itself is found to be destabilizing but the velocity profile due to it can in certain cases make the flow stable. In fact, for the boundary layer flow on a circular cylinder moving axially, it is found that all small disturbances will be damped out if the Reynolds number based on the radius is less than about 11 000.