Numerical Solutions for Laminar Incompressible Flow Past a Paraboloid of Revolution

Numerical solutions are obtained to the Navier-Stokes equations for flow past a paraboloid of revolution at zero angle of attack for a full range of Reynolds numbers. The solution approaches the Stokes and Oseen results at low Reynolds number and approaches the boundary-layer solution at high Reynolds number. The numerical method employed is an implicit alternating direction method which converges to the steady-state solution rapidly. Numerical experiments are made to determine the optimal time step for maximum rate of convergence.