Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 April 2006
To account for our previous experimental results, the flow past a flat plate set parallel to a uniform stream is investigated on the basis of Oseen's equations of motion. We are mainly concerned with the wake region and calculate the velocity field in detail for the range of Reynolds numbers 20–3000, corresponding to the experiments. The calculation shows that there is a velocity overshoot in the velocity distribution near the trailing edge, with the same magnitude as in the experiments. Furthermore, we confirm the experimental fact that the velocity on the centre-line of wake recovers in proportion to the square root of the distance from the trailing edge in the near wake. The pressure field is also examined to see the streamwise pressure gradient in the near wake.