Turbulent Boundary Layer

von Kármán Overlap Region & Law of the Wall

Law of the Wall describes the mean velocity profile in a turbulent boundary layer. Three layers exist: viscous sublayer (y⁺ < 5): U⁺ = y⁺; buffer layer (5–30); log-law overlap region (y⁺ > 30):
U⁺ = (1/κ) ln(y⁺) + B
where y⁺ = y u_τ/ν is the wall unit and U⁺ = U/u_τ. The von Kármán constant κ ≈ 0.41 and intercept B ≈ 5.0 are universal across flows. The friction Reynolds number Reτ = δ u_τ/ν sets the extent of the log region.