ABSTRACT
This chapter explores a special type of problems for the nonstationary boundary layer system. These problems describe formation of the boundary layer near a solid surface, when the viscous fluid, previously at rest, starts to move past the surface. Sometime later the influence of friction forces starts to manifest itself, and shows the gradual formation of the boundary layer as the flow splits into two regions: the outer flow and the boundary layer. In problems of the boundary layer formation, it is important to distinguish between two cases of the behavior of the fluid at the initial stage of its motion past the surface: it may start smoothly with gradual acceleration, or it may start suddenly, as an impact. The chapter considers the development of the boundary layer about a body that gradually starts to move in a resting fluid.
