No label defined (Q4223597)

The first edition of this book published in 1993 [the author, Fluid dynamics: Theoretical and computational approaches (1993; Zbl 0772.76002)] showed the usefulness of the book as a textbook in fluid dynamics. In the second edition, the material is arranged as follows: The first two chapters cover theoretical aspects of fluid dynamics and deal with the basis equations, chapter 3 is devoted essentially to the Navier-Stokes and Euler equations, and chapter 4 gives an elementary treatment of inviscid incompressible and compressible flows, followed by exercises for students. Chapter 5 presents some exact solutions of Navier-Stokes equations, exact solutions which describe the slow motion of bodies in viscous fluids, the theory of jets, and finally the boundary layer problems and momentum integral methods for their solution. Then the author discusses numerical methods to solve the boundary layer equations which is convenient because the reader need not look separately for the corresponding numerical methods in other books. In the remainder of chapter 5, the author examines consequently the three-dimensional boundary layers, boundary layers on bodies of revolution and yawed cylinders, unsteady and periodic boundary layers, second-order boundary layer theory, the matching procedure for inner and outer solutions, compressible boundary layer problems and methods of solving these problems numerically. Unfortunately, the author devotes just a page to the heat transfer theory in boundary layers, which, in reviewer's opinion, is not sufficient to understand well the compressible case. Perhaps, in the next edition, the author will add more pages on the discussion and solution of energy equation. Chapter 5 concludes with a detailed discussion of the hyperbolic systems of differential equations and with exercises which contain many good examples. In chapter 6 the author examines the stability of laminar flows, derives the Orr-Sommerfeld equation for channel and boundary layer flows, proves the Rayleigh's first and second theorems, and then presents numerical methods to solve the Orr-Sommerfeld equation for a boundary layer on a flat plate. The next material is devoted to the statistical methods in the theory of turbulence. The reader is made here familiar with homogeneous turbulence, homogeneous shear turbulence, isotropic turbulence, Kolmogorov's and Taylor's theories of turbulence, the averaged equations for incompressible and compresible flows, and finally with turbulent boundary layer equations and momentum integral methods for their solution. Additionally, the author discusses various methods of solution of two-dimensional turbulent boundary layer equations available in the literature. Some problems are given to check the reader's understanding. At the end of the book, the author discusses some auxiliary mathematical topics concerning vectors, Gauss, Green and Stokes theorems, the geometry of space and plane curves together with the geometry of surfaces, formulas for coordinate transformations, frame invariance, potential theory, gives a short comment on the notion ``singularity of the first-order ordinary differential equations'', and finally discusses finite difference approximations of parabolic and elliptic partial differential equations. On balance, this is a good textbook for advanced cources in fluid mechanics, containing both the theory and practical methods of problem solution. Due to the recent trends in research activity, it would be appropriate to add in the next editions a chapter on energy considerations in the boundary layer theory, and a chapter on stability of Taylor, Dean and Bénard flows.