On the Spatial Localization of the Laminar Boundary Layer in a Non-Newtonian Dilatant Fluid

In dilatant fluids the shear perturbation propagation rate is finite, in contrast to Newtonian and pseudoplastic fluids in which it is infinite [1]. Therefore, in certain dilatant fluid flows, frontal surfaces separating regions with zero and nonzero shear perturbations may be formed. Since, in a sense, the boundary layer is a "time scan" of the nonstationary shear perturbation propagation process, in dilatant fluids the boundary layer should definitely be spatially localized. This was first mentioned in [2] where, however, it was mistakenly asserted that boundary layer spatial localization does not take place in all dilatant fluids and is absent in so-called "hardening" dilatant fluids. In [3], the solutions of the laminar boundary-layer equations for pseudoplastic and "hardening" dilatant fluids were investigated qualitatively. The formation of frontal surfaces in dilatant fluid flows is usually mathematically related with the existence of singular solutions of the corresponding differential equations [4]. However, since the analysis performed in [3] was inaccurate, in that study singular solutions were not found and it was incorrectly concluded that in "hardening" dilatant fluids there is no spatial boundary layer localization. The investigation performed in [5] showed that in fact in "hardening" dilatant fluids boundary layers are spatially localized, since there exist singular solutions of the corresponding differential equations. Subsequently, this result was reproduced in [6], where an attempt was also made to carry out a qualitative investigation of the solutions of the laminar boundary-layer equations for other types of dilatant fluids. The author did not find singular solutions in this case and mistakenly concluded that in these fluids there is no spatial boundary layer localization. This misunderstanding was due to the fact that in [6] it was not understood that in dilatant fluid flows the formation of frontal surfaces can be mathematically described not only in relation to the existence of singular solutions.