Calculation of flow in the tail region of a body of revolution

A method for calculating the turbulent flow in the tail region of a body of revolution in order to determine the drag of the body in an incompressible viscous fluid is presented. The method neglects viscous and Reynolds stresses in the rotational flow layer, except in a thin region next to the surface, and equates the vorticity to the reciprocal slope of the velocity profile. An inviscid rotational flow calculation is presented for arbitrary surface shear stress layer velocity profiles, and results of the calculation are shown to agree well with experimental measurements for the aft 20% of a low-fineness-ratio body. Further investigations of the method to establish its reliability and applicability are suggested.