location of transitional point

Hopefully some one will know what i am talking about

i need to find the transition point from laminar to turbulent flow across a flate plate.

the note i took down in lectures arnt arranged very well, and i am not sure which is which.

i am thinking it is something like this

0.375/re(Vp)

or something similar

can any one help me?

Uh, I don't think it can be defined that simply.

Gotta account for:

Surface roughness
Turbulence in freestream
Pressure gradient
Heating of fluid by surface



The Reynolds number is given by


Re = ( Rho[freestream] * V[freestream] * Xtransision )/ mu[freestream]

Rho is density
V is velocity
Xtransition is distance along surface
mu is viscosity


A rule of thumb is transition occurs around a Re of 500,000, but that will vary depending on the other factors mentioned above. Generally a flow of Re much less than 500,000 is laminar, and much above 500,000 is turbulent.


Hope this helps.



So for you:

Xtransition = (Re * Mu) / (rho * V)

Originally posted by kilcoo316
Uh, I don't think it can be defined that simply.

Gotta account for:

Surface roughness
Turbulence in freestream
Pressure gradient
Heating of fluid by surface



The Reynolds number is given by


Re = ( Rho[freestream] * V[freestream] * Xtransision )/ mu[freestream]

Rho is density
V is velocity
Xtransition is distance along surface
mu is viscosity


A rule of thumb is transition occurs around a Re of 500,000, but that will vary depending on the other factors mentioned above. Generally a flow of Re much less than 500,000 is laminar, and much above 500,000 is turbulent.


Hope this helps.



So for you:

Xtransition = (Re * Mu) / (rho * V)

Good to have you here Kilcoo