Classification of flows

AE 225 Incompressible Fluid Mechanics

Aniruddha Sinha

Department of Aerospace Engineering

IIT Bombay

Why classify flows?

Divide and conquer: study one phenomenon at a time
Flows governed by physical, chemical & thermodynamic phenomena
To understand the effect of a phenomenon, fictitious flows where only

one or a few phenomena exist are studied

Behaviour of flow changes totally based on which phenomenon is dominant
Aerospace engineering: compressibility of air matters; heat transfer is

negligible; gravitational forces are small

Mechanical engineering: heat transfer/work is very important; most

fluids may be considered incompressible and chemically neutral

Civil engineering: gravitational forces are paramount; heat transfer,

chemistry, compressibility unimportant

Chemical engineering: mixing, phase change and chemical reactions
matter; thermodynamics and chemistry of fluid is as important

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Fluid statics vs. fluid dynamics

Fluid mechanics is complex mainly because velocity field affects all

other variables
Fluid velocity complicates the application of Newtons laws of motion
Velocity being a vector, it increases the number of variables by three
Fluid statics is study of fluid mechanics when V 0
Fluid statics is useful in analysis of atmosphere, airships,

ships/submarines, dams, etc.

Since velocity is zero, shear strain rates and shear stresses are zero;

viscosity has no role to play

Pressure is the dominant variable, followed by temperature

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Steady vs. unsteady flows

Real flows are always unsteady (i.e., time-varying)
But in many situations flow properties may have
very slow variations w.r.t. flow pass-through time, or
very small temporal fluctuations

so that unsteadiness may be neglected such flows are steady flows

Flow property

Flow property

Neglecting dependence of variables on time simplifies study greatly

In fact, due to complexity of unsteady flows, they are not studied often
In steady flows: V = V (x, y , z); p = p(x, y , z), etc.

Time

Temporal fluctuations cant be

neglected unsteady flow

Fluctuations
are small

Time

Temporal fluctuations may be deemed

small enough steady flow
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Further classification of unsteady flows

The time-variation of unsteady flows can be
Periodic: flow properties repeat themselves at fixed time intervals
Chaotic: no pattern is found that may be said to repeat in time
Transient: initial chaotic behaviour that doesnt persist for a long time

Flow property

Steady

Transient
T

Periodic
t=
Time

Both flows are transient until t = , after which one flow becomes steady
(or quasi-steady) and another becomes periodic with period T
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Dimensionality of flows
The dimensionality of a flow is the minimum number of spatial

coordinates required to describe the flow

Flow between two infinite plates separated by finite distance h is a 1D

flow
Dimensionality has nothing to do with the direction of velocity

Infinite
plate

x Flow is in
y direction
Velocity of viscous flow is changing with z only
If we were not smart, then we may choose the coordinate system

differently, in which case the flow may appear to have higher

dimensionality this is an error!
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One-dimensional flows examples

Viscous flow in infinitely long circular pipe of constant radius
Velocity doesnt vary w/ axial direction
Flow is in an equilibrium called fully-developed
Velocity is changing with radial distance only
Pressure decreases linearly in axial direction
Azimuthal () direction is symmetric
In Cartesian coordinates flow appears 2D: error!

Invisicd flow in long circular pipe with slowly changing radius

Due to inviscid nature, there is slip at the walls
Velocity is constant in radial direction away
from ends
Velocity is changing with axial distance only
Azimuthal () direction is symmetric
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Two-dimensional flows examples

External flow over long cylinder of constant radius
Consider oncoming flow that is constant in
magnitude and direction and independent of
spanwise location
Then flow properties dont change in spanwise
direction

Viscous flow in long circular pipe with slowly changing radius

Due to viscous nature, there is no-slip at walls
Velocity is no longer constant in radial
direction, even away from ends
Velocity is changing in axial direction also
Azimuthal () direction is symmetric
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Uniform vs. non-uniform flow

Uniformity/non-uniformity refers to variation of a chosen property in

space
Velocity is uniform if velocity does not change with x, y or z; V can

change with time

Flow is uniform at x

If the flow is uniform everywhere, its dimensionality is zero

A limited region of the flow can be uniform locally uniform flow

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Viscous vs. inviscid flow

Air and water have very small coeff. of viscosity

Is it possible to neglect viscosity in aerospace/mechanical applications

study inviscid flows?

Neglecting viscosity greatly reduces the complexity of partial

differential equations governing the flow

It can be shown that
Lift of a wing for small angles of attack does not change if effects of
viscosity are included
On the other hand, viscosity affects drag of a wing considerably
Inviscid flows are extensively studied in aerospace applications

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Compressible vs. incompressible flows

When the flow is incompressible, density is a parameter which

distinguishes one fluid from the other; it is not a variable which

changes with space and time
When the fluid is compressible, density is variable; density can change

w.r.t. space variables and also time

Also changes in density are related to changes in pressure and

temperature (gas law)

Thus thermodynamics gets coupled with fluid dynamics
In aerospace, fluid dynamics (also called gas dynamics) is extensively

studied
Incompressible aerodynamics is low speed flow low speeds produce

negligible changes in pressure. Hence density changes can be neglected.

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Laminar vs. turbulent flows

Flow property

Steady state turbulent flow

Averaged property remains constant over long
enough segments of time, but random
fluctuations of substantial amplitude exist over
and above averaged property
Time

Flow property

Unsteady laminar flow

Velocity is varying with time smoothly; no

appreciable random fluctuations
Time
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Laminar flows

In laminar flows (also known as streamline flows), fluid flows in layers

with no random disruption between the layers

There are no random cross currents perpendicular to the main direction

of flow, nor (seemingly) unpredictable eddies or swirls of fluids

The flow pattern appears more or less predictable
Random fluctuations may be present but at very very small amplitudes
Flow of high-viscosity fluids at low velocities is typically laminar

Laminar flow

Turbulent flow

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Laminar and turbulent flows visual evidence

This smoke-flow visualization

of the same wing at differing
angles (6 , 12 , 14 top to
bottom) of incidence reveals
how tipping a wing above the
plane of flow can change the
flow from laminar to
turbulent

http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4103/app-f.htm
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Laminar and turbulent flows visual evidence (contd.)

Visualization of flow over flat plate

Laminar flow can co-exist with turbulent flow

Laminar flow can change to turbulent flow and vice versa

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Dont confuse unsteadiness with turbulence

The key differentiator between laminar and turbulent flow is large random
temporal variation of fluid property

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Attached vs. separated flow

Attached flow: flow sticks to solid wall and tries to move along it
Separated flow: flow leaves the wall and follows an alternate path
Flow past a sphere at different speeds

Attached flow (low speed)

Separated flow (high speed)

Flow field predictions are accurate and easier when flow is attached
However, not easy to predict when flow separation will occur
Separated flows are turbulent; mostly avoided in engineering design
Taneda, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn, 1956
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Turbulence in separated flow

Mehta, R., An overview of cricket ball swing, Sports Engineering, 2005

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Models in fluid dynamics

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