Ludwig Prandtl

Ludwig Prandtl
Prandtl in 1937
Born(1875-02-04)4 February 1875
Freising, Upper Bavaria, German Empire
Died15 August 1953(1953-08-15) (aged 78)
Göttingen, West Germany
NationalityGerman
Alma materTechnical University of Munich, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Known forBoundary layer
Mixing length theory
Lifting-line theory
Membrane analogy
Prandtl box wing
Prandtl condition
Prandtl number
Prandtl stress function
Prandtl tube
Prandtl's one-seventh-power law
Prandtl–Meyer expansion fan
Prandtl–Meyer function
Prandtl–Batchelor theorem
Prandtl–Glauert transformation
Prandtl–Glauert singularity
Prandtl–Tomlinson model
Kármán–Prandtl resistance equation
AwardsAckermann–Teubner Memorial Award (1918)
ForMemRS (1928)
Daniel Guggenheim Medal (1930)
Harnack Medal (1936)
Wilhelm Exner Medal (1951)
Scientific career
FieldsAerodynamics
InstitutionsUniversity of Göttingen,
Technical University of Hannover
Thesis Tilting Phenomena, A case of unstable elastic balance  (1899)
Doctoral advisorAugust Föppl
Doctoral studentsAckeret, Blasius, Busemann, Munk, Nikuradse, Schlichting, Tollmien, von Kármán, Timoshenko, Vâlcovici, Vishnu Madav Ghatage

Ludwig Prandtl (4 February 1875 – 15 August 1953)[1] was a German fluid dynamicist, physicist and aerospace scientist. He was a pioneer in the development of rigorous systematic mathematical analyses which he used for underlying the science of aerodynamics, which have come to form the basis of the applied science of aeronautical engineering.[2] In the 1920s, he developed the mathematical basis for the fundamental principles of subsonic aerodynamics in particular; and in general up to and including transonic velocities. His studies identified the boundary layer, thin-airfoils, and lifting-line theories. The Prandtl number was named after him.[3]

  1. ^ Busemann, A. (1960). "Ludwig Prandtl. 1875-1953". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 5: 193–205. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1960.0015.
  2. ^ Eckert, Michael (2006). "The Beginnings of Fluid Mechanics in Göttingen, 1904–14". The Dawn of Fluid Dynamics: A Discipline Between Science and Technology. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH. pp. 31–56. ISBN 3-527-40513-5.
  3. ^ Oswatitsch, K; Wieghardt, K (January 1987). "Ludwig Prandtl and His Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut". Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics. 19 (1): 1–26. Bibcode:1987AnRFM..19....1W. doi:10.1146/annurev.fl.19.010187.000245. ISSN 0066-4189. S2CID 122665275.