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DIMENSIONLESS NUMBERS
10.1 FLUID MECHANICS
Where:
g = gravitational acceleration (9.81 m/s),
l = density of the fluid,
= density of the body,
= dynamic viscosity,
L = characteristic length of body, m
When analyzing potentially mixed convection of a liquid, the Archimedes
number parametrizes the relative strength of free and forced convection. When Ar >>
1 natural convection dominates, i.e. less dense bodies rise and denser bodies sink,
and when Ar << 1 forced convection dominates. When the density difference is due
to heat transfer (e.g. fluid being heated and causing a temperature difference
between different parts of the fluid), then we may write
Where:
= is the volumetric expansion coefficient
T = is temperature
T0 = refers to a reference point within the fluid body
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Doing this gives the Grashof number, i.e. the Archimedes and Grashof
numbers are equivalent but suited to describing situations where there is a material
difference in density and heat transfer causes the density difference respectively.
The Archimedes number is related to both the Richardson number and Reynolds
number via
Where
= density of fluid, (SI units: kg/m3)
= local fluid velocity, (SI units: m/s)
K = bulk modulus of elasticity, (SI units: Pa)
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Where
a=
.
Thus, the Cauchy number is square of the Mach number for isentropic flow of
a perfect gas
Where
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Where
= is a characteristic velocity,
c = is a characteristic water wave propagation velocity.
The Froude number is thus analogous to the Mach number. The greater the Froude
number, the greater the resistance.
Where
DH = is the diameter in round tubes or hydraulic diameter in arbitrary
cross-section ducts
L
= is the length
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Where
L and D subscripts indicates the length scale basis for the Grashof Number.
g = acceleration due to Earth's gravity
= volumetric thermal expansion coefficient (equal to approximately 1/T, for
ideal fluids, where
T is absolute temperature)
Ts = surface temperature
T = bulk temperature
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L = length
D = diameter
= kinematic viscosity
The transition to turbulent flow occurs in the range 108 < GrL < 109 for natural
convection from vertical flat plates. At higher Grashof numbers, the boundary layer is
turbulent; at lower Grashof numbers, the boundary layer is laminar.
The product of the Grashof number and the Prandtl number gives the
Rayleigh number, a dimensionless number that characterizes convection problems
in heat transfer.
There is an analogous form of the Grashof number used in cases of natural
convection mass transfer problems.
Where
Ca,s
Ca,a
= characteristic length
= kinematic viscosity
= fluid density
Ca
= concentration of species a
= constant temperature
= constant pressure
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Where
M = is the Mach number,
= is the velocity of the source relative to the medium, and
sound = is the speed of sound in the medium.
Mach number varies by the composition of the surrounding medium and also
by local conditions, especially temperature and pressure. The Mach number can be
used to determine if a flow can be treated as an incompressible flow. If M < 0.20.3
and the flow is (quasi) steady and isothermal, compressibility effects will be small
and a simplified incompressible flow model can be used.
10.1.10
While the terms "subsonic" and "supersonic" in the purest verbal sense refer
to speeds below and above the local speed of sound respectively, aerodynamicists
often use the same terms to talk about particular ranges of Mach values. This occurs
because of the presence of a "transonic regime" around M = 1 where approximations
of the Navier-Stokes equations used for subsonic design actually no longer apply,
the simplest of many reasons being that the flow locally begins to exceed M = 1 even
when the free stream Mach number is below this value.
Meanwhile, the "supersonic regime" is usually used to talk about the set of
Mach numbers for which linearised theory may be used, where for example the (air)
flow is not chemically reacting, and where heat-transfer between air and vehicle may
be reasonably neglected in calculations.
In the following table, the "regimes" or "ranges of Mach values" are referred
to, and not the "pure" meanings of the words "subsonic" and "supersonic".
Generally, NASA defines "high" hypersonic as any Mach number from 10 to 25, and
re-entry speeds as anything greater than Mach 25. Aircraft operating in this regime
include the Space Shuttle and various space planes in development.
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10.1.11
PECLET NUMBER
context of species or mass dispersion, the Peclet number is the product of the
Reynolds number and the Schmidt number.
For diffusion of heat (thermal diffusion), the Peclet number is defined as
Where
L = is the characteristic length,
U = is the velocity,
D = is the mass diffusion coefficient,
= is the thermal diffusivity,
Where
k
= is the density,
Cp
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10.1.12
RAYLEIGH NUMBER
Where
x
= Characteristic length (in this case, the distance from the leading
Rax
Grx
Pr
= Prandtl number
Ts
edge)
T
object)
= Kinematic viscosity
= Thermal diffusivity
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10.1.13
REYNOLDS NUMBER
A vortex street around a cylinder. This occurs around cylinders, for any fluid,
cylinder size and fluid speed, provided that there is a Reynolds number of between
~40 and 103.
In fluid mechanics, the Reynolds number (Re) is a dimensionless number that
gives a measure of the ratio of inertial forces to viscous forces and consequently
quantifies the relative importance of these two types of forces for given flow
conditions.
The concept was introduced by George Gabriel Stokes in 1851, but the
Reynolds number is named after Osborne Reynolds (18421912), who popularized
its use in 1883.
Reynolds numbers frequently arise when performing dimensional analysis of
fluid dynamics problems, and as such can be used to determine dynamic similitude
between different experimental cases.
They are also used to characterize different flow regimes, such as laminar or
turbulent flow: laminar flow occurs at low Reynolds numbers, where viscous forces
are dominant, and is characterized by smooth, constant fluid motion; turbulent flow
occurs at high Reynolds numbers and is dominated by inertial forces, which tend to
produce chaotic eddies, vortices and other flow instabilities.
Reynolds number can be defined for a number of different situations where a
fluid is in relative motion to a surface. These definitions generally include the fluid
properties of density and viscosity, plus a velocity and a characteristic length or
characteristic dimension. This dimension is a matter of convention for example a
radius or diameter are equally valid for spheres or circles, but one is chosen by
convention. For aircraft or ships, the length or width can be used. For flow in a pipe
or a sphere moving in a fluid the internal diameter is generally used today. Other
shapes such as rectangular pipes or non-spherical objects have an equivalent
diameter defined. For fluids of variable density such as compressible gases or fluids
of variable viscosity such as non-Newtonian fluids, special rules apply. The velocity
may also be a matter of convention in some circumstances, notably stirred vessels.
With these conventions, the Reynolds number is defined as
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Where:
v
= is the mean velocity of the object relative to the fluid (SI units: m/s)
L
= is a characteristic linear dimension, (travelled length of the fluid;
hydraulic diameter when dealing with river systems) (m)
10.1.14
RICHARDSON NUMBER
The Richardson number is named after Lewis Fry Richardson (1881 1953).
It is the dimensionless number that expresses the ratio of potential to kinetic energy
Where
g = is the acceleration due to gravity
h = a representative vertical length scale
u = representative speed.
When considering flows in which density differences are small (the
Boussinesq approximation), it is common to use the reduced gravity g' and the
relevant parameter is the densimetric Richardson number
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10.1.15
WEBER NUMBER
Where
= is the density of the fluid (kg/m3).
l
13
Where:
h = film coefficient or heat transfer coefficient or convective heat transfer
coefficient
LC = characteristic length, which is commonly defined as the volume of the
body divided by the surface area of the body, such that
kb = Thermal conductivity of the body
The physical significance of Biot number can be understood by imagining the
heat flow from a small hot metal sphere suddenly immersed in a pool, to the
surrounding fluid. The heat flow experiences two resistances: the first within the solid
metal (which is influenced by both the size and composition of the sphere), and the
second at the surface of the sphere. If the thermal resistance of the fluid/sphere
interface exceeds that thermal resistance offered by the interior of the metal sphere,
the Biot number will be less than one. For systems where it is much less than one,
the interior of the sphere may be presumed always to have the same temperature,
although this temperature may be changing, as heat passes into the sphere from the
surface. The equation to describe this change in (relatively uniform) temperature
inside the object, is simple exponential one described in Newton's law of cooling.
In contrast, the metal sphere may be large, causing the characteristic length
to increase to the point that the Biot number is larger than one. Now, thermal
gradients within the sphere become important, even though the sphere material is a
good conductor. Equivalently, if the sphere is made of a thermally insulating (poorly
conductive) material, such as wood or styrofoam, the interior resistance to heat flow
will exceed that of the fluid/sphere boundary, even with a much smaller sphere. In
this case, again, the Biot number will be greater than one.
10.2.2 APPLICATIONS
Values of the Biot number smaller than 0.1 imply that the heat conduction
inside the body is much faster than the heat convection away from its surface, and
temperature gradients are negligible inside of it. This can indicate the applicability (or
inapplicability) of certain methods of solving transient heat transfer problems. For
example, a Biot number less than 0.1 typically indicates less than 5% error will be
present when assuming a lumped-capacitance model of transient heat transfer (also
called lumped system analysis). Typically this type of analysis leads to simple
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Where
NBr = is the Brinkman number;
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external heating. The higher the value of it, the lesser will be the conduction of heat
produced by viscous dissipation and hence larger the temperature rise.
Brinkman number can be considered as the product of Prandtl number and
Eckert number,
In, for example, a screw extruder, the energy supplied to the polymer melt
comes primarily from two sources:
viscous heat generated by shear between parts of the flow moving at different
velocities;
direct heat conduction from the wall of the extruder.
The former is supplied by the motor turning the screw, the latter by heaters.
The Brinkman number is a measure of the ratio of the two.
where:
L = characteristic length
kf = thermal conductivity of the fluid
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Where
Cp
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Note that whereas the Reynolds number and Grashof number are
subscripted with a length scale variable, the Prandtl number contains no such length
scale in its definition and is dependent only on the fluid and the fluid state. As such,
the Prandtl number is often found in property tables alongside other properties such
as viscosity and thermal conductivity.
Typical values for Pr are:
(Low Pr - thermal diffusivity dominant)
18
It was named after the German engineer Ernst Heinrich Wilhelm Schmidt (18921975).
Schmidt number is the ratio of the shear component for diffusivity viscosity /
density to the diffusivity for mass transfer D. It physically relates the relative
thickness of the hydrodynamic layer and mass-transfer boundary layer.
It is defined as:
Where:
The heat transfer analog of the Schmidt number is the Prandtl number.
It is defined as follows
Where
L = is a characteristic length (m)
D = is mass diffusivity (m2.s1)
K = is the mass transfer coefficient (m.s1)
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Where:
k = kinetics reaction rate constant
C0 = initial concentration
n = reaction order
t
= time
Or as
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Where
kg = is the global mass transport coefficient
a = is the interfacial area
10.5 MISCELLANEOUS
Where
= is the thermal diffusivity
D = is the mass diffusivity.
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The Lewis number can also be stated in terms of the Schmidt number and the
Prandtl number :
It is named after Warren K. Lewis (18821975), who was the first head of the
Chemical Engineering Department at MIT. Some workers in the field of combustion
assume (incorrectly) that the Lewis number was named for Bernard Lewis (1899
1993), who for many years was a major figure in the field of combustion research
Where
h = convection heat transfer coefficient
= density of the fluid
cp = specific heat of the fluid
V = velocity of the fluid
It can also be represented in terms of the fluid's Nusselt, Reynolds, and
Prandtl numbers:
Where
Nu = is the Nusselt number
Re = is the Reynolds number
Pr = is the Prandtl number
The Stanton number arises in the consideration of the geometric similarity of
the momentum boundary layer and the thermal boundary layer, where it can be used
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to express a relationship between the shear force at the wall (due to viscous drag)
and the total heat transfer at the wall (due to thermal diffusivity).
The Stanton number is named after Thomas Edward Stanton (18651931).
Where
characteristic length L: Kn = /L. The length chosen will depend on the problem
under consideration. It may be, for example, the diameter of a pipe or an
object immersed in a flow, or the thickness of a boundary layer or a shock wave.
The magnitude of the Knudsen number determines the appropriate gas
dynamic regime. When the Knudsen number is small compared to unity, of the order
of Kn 0.1, the fluid can be treated as a continuous medium and described in terms
of the macroscopic variables: velocity, density, pressure, and temperature. In the
transition flow regime, for Knudsen numbers of the order of unity or greater,
a microscopic approach
is
required,
wherein
the
trajectories
of
individual
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