Numerical research on the hydrodynamic stability of Blasius flow with spectral method

Orr-Sommerfeld equation is solved numerically using expansions in Chebyshev polynomials. The numerical results show a good agreement with Howarth's solution, with relatively low computational cost. This method is then applied to the stability of flat plate boundary layer flow compared with the finite difference method; our study shows that the expansions in Chebyshev polynomials are more suitable for the solution of hydrodynamic stability problems than the expansions in finite difference method.