On the vorticity numbers of monotonous motions (Q1109621)

Among the phenomena best known in the mechanics of viscous fluids are boundary layers and the absence of them. In a typical flow past a stationary boundary there is a layer next to that boundary in which vorticity and stretching are both important, while at great distances from the boundary the velocity field grows more and more nearly irrotational. The effects of boundary layers are of main importance for fluids whose viscosity or viscosities are known. In contrast, when it comes to measuring the tangential and normal tractions exerted by a fluid body on confining walls - that is, to determine the several constitutive coefficients or functions - a flow throughout vorticose is usually laid down as basic and in experiment produced to within deviations such as end effects. Flows of this kind form the basis for design of instruments to measure shear tractions and normal tractions as functions of kinematical variables such as shearings. In this note I address mainly phenomena of the latter kind, those in which spin balances or predominates stretching.