4/29/2010

WHAT IS FLUID
A fluid is a substance which deforms continuously under the action of shearing forces.
Depending on the relationship between shear stress, and the rate of strain and its derivatives, fluids can be characterized as:

STEADY AND UNSTEADY FLOW

If the flow parameters, such as velocity, pressure, density and discharge do not vary with time or are independent with time then the flow is steady. If the flow parameters vary with time then the flow is categorized as unsteady.

UNIFORM VS NON-UNIFORM FLOW

The fluid flow is a uniform flow if the flow parameters remain constant with distance along the flow path. And the fluid flow is non-uniform if the flow parameters vary and are different at different points on the flow path.

NEWTONIAN FLUIDS : where stress is directly

proportional to rate of strain.

NON-NEWTONIAN FLUIDS

ROTATIONAL AND IRROTATIONAL FLOW

If the angle between the two intersecting lines of the boundary of the fluid element changes while moving in the flow, then the flow is a Rotational Flow. But if the fluid element rotates as a whole and there is no change in angles between the boundary lines then the is Irrotational Flow.

COMPRESSIBLE AND INCOMPRESSIBLE FLUID

All fluids are compressible to some extent, that is changes in pressure or temperature will result in changes in density. However, in many situations the changes in pressure and temperature are sufficiently small that the changes in density are negligible. In this case the flow can be modeled as an incompressible flow. Otherwise the more general compressible flow equations must be used.

LAMINAR AND TURBULENT FLOW

The flow of a fluid moving with a speed has fluid layers moving past other layers as if some sheets are moving over other layers. Such flow of fluids is called Laminar Flow. Turbulent Flow As the flow speed is high, these smoothly moving layers start moving randomly, and with further increase in flow velocity, the flow of fluid particles becomes completely random. .

VISCOUS VS INVISCID FLOW

Viscous problems are those in which fluid friction has significant effects on the fluid motion. Stokes flow is flow at very low Reynolds numbers, Re 1, such that inertial forces can be neglected compared to viscous forces. High Reynolds numbers indicate that the inertial forces are more significant than the viscous (friction) forces. Therefore, we may assume the flow to be an inviscid flow, an approximation in which we neglect viscosity completely, compared to inertial terms.

u u u u +u +v +w t x y z v v v v ay = + u + v + w t x y z w w w w ax = +u +v +w t x y z u u ai = i + u j i t x j ax =
The equation of continuity for an incompressible fluid.

(1) (2) (3)

u v w + + =0 x y z ui =0 xi 5

VORTICITY AND CIRCULATION

Vorticity is a concept used in fluid dynamics. In the simplest sense, vorticity is the tendency for elements of the fluid to "spin."More formally, vorticity can be related to the amount of "circulation" or "rotation" (or more strictly, the local angular rate of rotation) in a fluid. The average vorticity av in a small region of fluid flow is equal to the circulation C around the boundary of the small region, divided by the area A of the small region. Notionally, the vorticity at a point in a fluid is the limit as the area of the small region of fluid approaches zero at the point. Mathematically, vorticity is a vector field and is defined as the curl of the velocity field.

4/29/2010

STREAM FUNCTION
The difference between the stream function values at any two points gives the volumetric flow rate (or volumetric flux) through a line connecting the two points. STREAMLINE: Since streamlines are tangent to the velocity vector of the flow, the value of the stream function must be constant along a. If there were a flux across a line, it would necessarily not be tangent to the flow, hence would not be a streamline. The usefulness of the stream function lies in the fact that the velocity components in the x- and y- directions at a given point are given by the partial derivatives of the stream function at that point.
In Cartesian coordinate system this is equivalent to