Galerkin-finite element formulation in viscous flow

A numerical solution procedure, based on the finite element idealization, combined with Galerkin's principle, has been derived for a class of problems in viscous fluid dynamics. In this note the authors present the results obtained for the simple case of boundary layer solution over a flat plate - the Blasius problem. The method shows excellent results with respect to other methods. Results emphasize the fact that better accuracy can be obtained by solving the nonlinear equations without referring to linearization procedures. Also, the use of a few high order elements can assure better accuracy than lower order elements.