The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Prandtl, Ludwig

Born Feb. 4, 1875, in Freising, Bavaria; died Aug. 15, 1953, in Göttingen. German scientist in the field of mechanics. One of the founders of aerodynamics. Prandtl graduated from the Polytechnische Hochschule in Munich. In 1901 he became a professor at the Technische Hochschule in Hanover, and in 1904 at the University of Göttingen. He served as director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Fluid Mechanics in Göttingen from 1925 until 1947.

Prandtl’s major works were on the theory of elasticity and plasticity and on fluid mechanics, gas dynamics, and dynamical meteorology. In 1904, Prandtl introduced the concept of boundary layer and explained the drag exhibited when fluid flows past a body as being due to the separation of this layer. He developed the theory of the finite span of airplane wings and worked out methods for the simplified solution of the corresponding equations. He studied the optimal distribution of airflow over the wing and, in conjunction with Birnbaum, examined the case of a nonstationary solution. He also introduced a clear concept of induced resistance and provided the formula for its determination. Prandtl studied turbulent flow in tubes, the turbulence of the free atmosphere, and the transition from laminar to turbulent flow. He investigated the supersonic discharge of gases and vapors under pressure and developed a linearized theory for a wing in a subsonic flow of compressible gas.

Various equations, concepts, and instruments have been named after Prandtl, who was responsible for a new approach to the study of applied fluid mechanics.

WORKS

Führer durch die Strömungslehre, 4th ed. Braunschweig, 1956.
Gesammelte Abhandlungen zur angewandten Mechanik, Hydro- und Aerodynamik. parts 1–3. Berlin, 1961.
In Russian translation:
Gidroaeromekhanika, 2nd ed. Moscow, 1951.

REFERENCES

Ackeret, J. “Ludwig Prandtl.” Zeitschrift für Angewandte Mathematik und Physik, 1954, vol. 5.
Loitsianskii, L. G. Mekhanika zhidkosti i gaza, 3rd ed. Moscow, 1970.

I. D. ROZHANSKII

References in periodicals archive

In the above equations, the parameters Pr, [N.sub.b], [N.sub.r], and [N.sub.t] are the Prandtl number, the Brownian motion parameter, the buoyancy parameter, and the thermophoresis parameter, respectively, which are defined by

Free convection nanofluid flow in the stagnation-point region of a three-dimensional body

Higher Prandtl number fluid causes lower thermal diffusivity and hence reduces the temperature at all points.

Free convective fluctuating MHD flow through porous media past a vertical porous plate with variable temperature and heat source

Figure 3 shows the effect of the Prandtl number on the temperature profile.

The spectral homotopy analysis method extended to systems of partial differential equations

Ludwig Prandtl: a biographical sketch, remembrances and documents.

Juguetes como instrumentos de ensenanza en ingenieria: el caso del pajaro bebedor

From our numerical results, it can be concluded that temperature of the fluid increases with increasing values of viscoelastic parameter ([k.sub.1]), heat source/sink parameter ([alpha]) and opposite trend can be seen with Prandtl number (Pr).

Flow and heat transfer in a viscoelastic fluid over a stretching sheet with internal heat generation

The abovementioned numerical scheme is carried out for various values of physical parameters, namely, the velocity ratio parameter (B), the magnetic parameter (M), the Casson parameter ([beta]), the Prandtl number (Pr), and the thermal radiation parameter (R) to obtain the effects of those parameters on dimensionless velocity and temperature distributions.

MHD stagnation-point flow of Casson fluid and heat transfer over a stretching sheet with thermal radiation

Mahmoud, "The shock-wave structure for arbitrary Prandtl numbers and high mach numbers," Astrophysics and Space Science, vol.113, no.2, pp.289-301, 1985.

On the effects of viscosity on the shock waves for a hydrodynamical case--part I: basic mechanism

4 shows the effects of Prandtl number Pr on w for [[lambda].sub.1] = 0.3, p = 1, [omega] = 10, [lambda] = 0.5, Da = 0.1, Gr = 1,Re = 1and t = 0.1.

Effects of MHD and heat transfer on an oscillatory flow of Jeffrey fluid in a tube

The idea of separating cream from whole milk by whirling the milk did not originate with Prandtl, however.

The cream rises to the top ... With a little boost from centrifugal force

Turbosupercharger engineers at Gottingen, such as Ludwig Prandtl, Albert Beitz and Walter Enke, were surely intrigued by Whittle's patent.

Rewriting history?

Pr is the Prandtl number defined as the ratio between kinematic viscosity v and thermal diffusivity k.

A combined fourth-order compact scheme with an accelerated multigrid method for the energy equation in spherical polar coordinates