Boundary layer separation and asymptotics from 1904 to 1969

Pierre-Yves Lagrée

doi:10.1016/j.crme.2017.06.002

Boundary layer separation and asymptotics from 1904 to 1969

Pierre-Yves Lagrée ¹

¹ Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Université Paris-6, CNRS, UMR 7190, Institut Jean-Le-Rond-d'Alembert, 75005 Paris, France

Comptes Rendus. Mécanique, A century of fluid mechanics: 1870–1970, Volume 345 (2017) no. 9, pp. 613-619.

Abstract
Résumé

The aim of this Note is to follow the spreading of the idea of asymptotic analysis in fluid mechanics (more precisely the laminar boundary layer). We will focus on the actors who worked on the problem of boundary layer separation from 1904 to 1969. This correspond to the invention of the “boundary layer” concept by Prandtl in 1904 and the invention of the “triple deck” in three different papers in 1969. The rationalization of the methods by the GALCIT group allowed one to solve, with exactly the same tools, problems at small and large Reynolds number (or problems with a small parameter). This story starts in Göttingen and goes to California before coming to London and Moscow.

Le but de cette note est de suivre le transport et la diffusion de l'idée d'analyse asymptotique dans le domaine de l'aéronautique des « couches limites » laminaires. Nous nous concentrerons sur les acteurs qui ont travaillé sur le problème de la séparation de la couche limite. Nous restreignons la période d'étude à l'intervalle allant de 1904 à 1970, principalement parce que cette période s'étend de l'invention du concept de « couche limite » par Prandtl, en 1904, à celle de la « triple couche » (ou « triple pont » en français) dans trois articles différents, en 1969. Par ailleurs, la rationalisation de la méthode intitulée « développements asymptotiques raccordés » a permis de résoudre avec exactement les mêmes outils mathématiques des problèmes à petit et à grand nombre de Reynolds, et plus généralement des problèmes avec un petit paramètre. Cette histoire commence à Göttingen et se déplace en Californie, avant de se poursuivre à Londres et à Moscou.

Received: 2016-11-28
Accepted: 2017-03-12
Published online: 2017-06-23

DOI: 10.1016/j.crme.2017.06.002

Keywords: Boundary layer
Mots-clés : Couche limite

Author's affiliations:

Pierre-Yves Lagrée ¹

¹ Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Université Paris-6, CNRS, UMR 7190, Institut Jean-Le-Rond-d'Alembert, 75005 Paris, France

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Pierre-Yves Lagrée. Boundary layer separation and asymptotics from 1904 to 1969. Comptes Rendus. Mécanique, A century of fluid mechanics: 1870–1970, Volume 345 (2017) no. 9, pp. 613-619. doi : 10.1016/j.crme.2017.06.002. https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/mecanique/articles/10.1016/j.crme.2017.06.002/

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