HIEMENZ

GERMANY (see also List of Individuals)

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19.1.1885 Worms/D - 2.6.1973 Hamburg/D

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Karl Hiemenz entered Darmstadt University in 1903 where he won already after two semesters a mathematical competition. After having graduated in mathematics and physics from the University of Göttingen in 1906 he was an assistant of Prof. Klein. In 1907 he initiated his PhD thesis under Ludwig Prandtl (1875-1953) at the University of Göttingen which he submitted in 1910. He then moved as an assistant in technical mechanics to the Institute of Physics of the Technical University of Darmstadt. He was in 1914 appointed teacher in mathematics of the Hamburg Technical College, where one of his colleague was Heinrich Blasius (1883-1970). Hiemenz was promoted to chief teacher of mathematics and electrotechnics in 1922 and retired from this position in 1950.

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Hiemenz was one of the very first students that collaborated with, and submitted a PhD thesis to Prandtl. He certainly knew Blasius from Göttingen University and thus was acquainted with the Blasius approach to boundary layers. Prandtl realized that more work was necessary and proposed to Hiemenz to investigate the boundary layer development along a circular cylinder submerged in uniform fluid flow. As explained by Theodor von Karman (1881-1963), Hiemenz was unable to observe steady flow about a circular cylinder immersed in free surface flow; the latter's observation finally led von Karman to his important research relating to the vortex street. As also Blasius, Hiemenz's prime interest was rather teaching than research such that he left Göttingen University. In 1914, Hiemenz was unable to enter service in Hamburg because he was called under the arms. Once having been released from British prisonnership in 1919, he moved with his family to Hamburg and there remained for the following 30 years. Blasius and Hiemenz were close friends all through their lifes.

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_{Hager, W.H. (2003). Blasius: A life in research and education. Experiments in Fluids 34: 566- 571.}

_{Hiemenz, K. (1911). Die Grenzschicht an einem in den gleichförmigen Flüssigkeitsstrom eingetauchten geraden Kreiszylinder. Weber: Berlin.}

_{Hiemenz, K. (1911). Die Grenzschicht an einem in den gleichförmigen Flüssigkeitsstrom eingetauchten geraden Kreiszylinder. Dinglers Polytechnisches Journal 326(21): 321-324; 326(22): 344-348; 326(23): 357-362; 326(24): 372-376; 326(25): 391-393; 326(26): 407- 410.}

_{Hiemenz, W. (2004). Karl Hiemenz. Personal communication. P}