LXVIII.The aerodynamic characteristics of a cylinder having a heated boundary layer

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Abstract
Recent developments in the theory of the boundary layer in fluid motion indicate that it is the local Reynolds’ number peculiar to a layer near the wall of an obstacle in a stream rather than that proper to the complete obstacle which determines the resistance shown by the obstacle to the motion of the fluid. This suggests that a cylinder having an “ultra-viscous” boundary layer may, under certain conditions, show a less resistance than that of a normal cylinder. Experiments to test this point are described, in which the “lubrication” of the boundary layer is attained through heating the cylinder, and hence the air in its close vicinity, and the gain discussed in the light of the temperature gradient in the boundary layer. The paper concludes with a note on the “dust-free space,” examined in conjunction with these results.

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