Hermann Schlichting (22 September 1907 – 15 June 1982) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

fluid dynamics In physics and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids— liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including ''aerodynamics'' (the study of air and other gases in motion) an ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

Life and work

Hermann Schlichting studied from 1926 till 1930 mathematics, physics and applied mechanics at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The un ...

Vienne Vienne (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Viéne'') is a landlocked department in the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It takes its name from the river Vienne. It had a population of 438,435 in 2019.Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

. In 1930 he wrote his PhD in Göttingen titled ''Über das ebene Windschattenproblem'' and also in the same year passed the state examination as teacher for higher mathematics and physics. His meeting with Ludwig Prandtl had a long-lasting effect on him. He worked from 1931 till 1935 at the

Kaiser Wilhelm Institute The Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science (German: ''Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften'') was a German scientific institution established in the German Empire in 1911. Its functions were taken over by ...

for Flow Research in

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

. His main research area was fluid flows with viscous effects. Simultaneously he also started working on

airfoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is the cross-sectional shape of an object whose motion through a gas is capable of generating significant lift, such as a wing, a sail, or the blades of propeller, rotor, or turbine. ...

aerodynamics Aerodynamics, from grc, ἀήρ ''aero'' (air) + grc, δυναμική (dynamics), is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dyn ...

. In 1935 Schlichting went to Dornier in

Friedrichshafen Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''Kre ...

. There he did the planning for the new

wind tunnel Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...

and after short construction time took charge over it. With it he gained useful experience in the field of aerodynamics. At the age of 30 in 1937 he joined

Technische Universität Braunschweig The Technische Universität Braunschweig (unofficially University of Braunschweig – Institute of Technology), commonly referred to as TU Braunschweig, is the oldest ' (comparable to an institute of technology in the American system) in Germany. ...

, where in 1938 he became a professor. After joining in October 1937 Schlichting worked on setting up the Aerodynamic Institute at the Braunschweig-Waggum airport. Some features of a boundary layer transitioning from a laminar to turbulent state has been named after him, the

Tollmien–Schlichting wave In fluid dynamics, a Tollmien–Schlichting wave (often abbreviated T-S wave) is a streamwise unstable wave which arises in a bounded shear flow (such as boundary layer and channel flow). It is one of the more common methods by which a laminar boun ...

s. Prof. Schlichting became an emeritus professor on 30 September 1975 at TU Braunschweig.

Achievements

*1953 Medal "50th Anniversary of Powered Flight“ from National Aeronautical Association, Washington D.C. *1968 Dr.-Ing. E.h. at Technical University Munich *1969

Ludwig-Prandtl-Ring The Ludwig Prandtl Ring is the highest award of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt (German Society for Aeronautics and Astronautics), awarded "for outstanding contribution in the field of aerospace engineering". The award is named ...

from Deutschen Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt (

DGLR German Society for Aeronautics and Astronautics (DGLR; german: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt - Lilienthal-Oberth e.V.) is a German aerospace society. It was founded in 1912 under the name of ''Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft für ...

) *1972

Bundesverdienstkreuz The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

*1976 Honorary member of Deutschen Forschungs- und Versuchsanstalt für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (

DFVLR The German Aerospace Center (german: Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V., abbreviated DLR, literally ''German Center for Air- and Space-flight'') is the national center for aerospace, energy and transportation research of Germany ...

) *1980 "Von-Kármán-Medaille“ from Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development (

AGARD The Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development (AGARD) was an agency of NATO that existed from 1952 to 1996. AGARD was founded as an Agency of the NATO Military Committee. It was set up in May 1952 with headquarters in Neuilly sur Sein ...

), Paris

Books

* Hermann Schlichting, Erich Truckenbrodt: ''Aerodynamik des Flugzeugs'' Springer, Berlin 1967 * Hermann Schlichting, Klaus Gersten, Boundary Layer Theory, 8th ed. Springer-Verlag 2004, * Hermann Schlichting, Klaus Gersten, Egon Krause, Herbert, jun. Oertel: ''Grenzschicht-Theorie'' Springer, Berlin 2006,

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schlichting, Hermann Fluid dynamicists 1907 births 1982 deaths Engineers from Lower Saxony Ludwig-Prandtl-Ring recipients Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Technical University of Braunschweig faculty People from Stade (district)