Differential Analysis of Fluid Flow

Pressure and velocity in inviscid flow are linked by Euler's equations of motion. In fluid mechanics, viscosity creates shear stress, which is a force that acts along a surface. For low-viscosity fluids like water, these shear stresses are very small. That lets the fluid be treated as inviscid, or frictionless.

In an inviscid fluid, shear stresses are absent. Only normal stresses remain, and these act perpendicular to a fluid element. Pressure is the negative of the normal stress. It stays the...

The stream function helps describe two-dimensional incompressible flow. In this type of flow, the continuity equation keeps mass conserved. That means fluid entering a region must be balanced by fluid leaving it.

For incompressible flow, the density stays constant. The continuity requirement then becomes a zero-divergence condition for the velocity field. In two dimensions, the horizontal and vertical velocity components are usually written as u and v.

A stream function, written as ψ, is used...

Irrotational flow is fluid motion in which particles do not spin around their own axes. It has zero vorticity, which means the curl of the velocity field is zero. That condition places limits on the velocity gradients in the flow.

A simple example is uniform flow. In this case, the velocity u stays constant, while v and w are both zero. This satisfies the irrotational conditions and gives a basic model of non-rotating flow.

When a solid object is added, irrotational flow usually remains only...

Velocity potential in pipe flow describes the motion of fluid in the central region of a long, straight pipe with a uniform cross-section. In this region, the flow is steady, incompressible, and irrotational. Irrotational means the fluid particles do not spin around their own axes.

A scalar function called the velocity potential, written as φ, is used to describe this motion. The velocity field V is defined as the gradient of φ. Because the curl of a gradient is always zero, this form of V...

Plane potential flows describe fluid motion using simple flow patterns and models. They assume the fluid is irrotational and incompressible. These assumptions let the flow be written with a velocity potential function, φ, which gives the flow speed in a direction, and a stream function, ψ, which shows the flow path. Both are governed by Laplace's equation and are useful for estimating flow patterns, velocity distributions, and pressure fields around hydraulic structures.

Uniform flow is the...

Fluid stress and flow equations describe how incompressible Newtonian fluids move under pressure, shear, and gravity. In these fluids, density stays constant, and stress changes linearly with the rate of deformation. The main stress types are normal stress and shear stress.

Normal stress depends on pressure acting on the fluid and on deformation rate in specific directions. Shear stress acts along the surface of a fluid layer. It shows how neighboring layers slide past one another, so velocity...

Laminar flow between parallel plates shows how fluid moves through a narrow, flat channel. This model helps describe flow in water conveyance and drainage systems, where the space is limited and the motion stays orderly. It is also useful for analyzing flow in rectangular channels used in many engineering settings.

The flow is studied with the Navier-Stokes equations, which govern fluid motion. These equations are often difficult to solve because they are nonlinear. In this case, the problem...

Linear shear between moving plates describes fluid motion in a simple channel with two parallel plates. One plate stays fixed, and the other moves at a constant speed. This setup helps show how viscosity and incompressible flow shape fluid motion under the Navier-Stokes equations.

The model uses a steady, laminar, incompressible flow with no pressure gradient in the flow direction. The x-axis points along the moving direction of the upper plate, and the y-axis is perpendicular to both plates.

Parabolic flow in circular tubes describes the steady, incompressible motion of a viscous fluid through a tube with a constant radius. This Hagen-Poiseuille flow is a classic example of laminar flow. It is often used to study fluid transport in narrow channels, including capillaries.

Cylindrical coordinates are used to describe the tube. The radial direction is r, the angular direction is θ, and the axial direction is z. In this flow, the velocity is purely axial. That means the fluid moves...

Pressure drop in oil pipe design depends on pipe size, oil properties, and the flow rate needed through a circular pipe. For steady, incompressible, laminar flow, Hagen-Poiseuille's law gives an exact solution from the Navier-Stokes equations. It is used to find the pressure difference needed to keep oil moving through a pipeline section.

The pressure drop equation uses the oil's dynamic viscosity, the pipeline length, the desired volumetric flow rate, and the pipe's inner radius. This...