Lecture 1

Review of Important
Concepts in Fluid Dynamics
Lecture Notes for Mechanical Engineering 06-85-511

Winter 2017

Copyright 2017 by G. Nasif. All rights reserved. No part of these notes may be reproduced or distributed in any form or
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without prior written permission from the authors.
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 Fundamental Topics of Fluid Dynamics Important
in Bluff Body Aerodynamics:
No slip condition: fluid molecules next to surface have the same velocity as the surface

Stress Strain rate (Newtonian fluid)

Shear stress causes continuous shear deformation in a

fluid:(a) a fluid element straining at a rate ; (b)
Newtonian shear distribution in a shear layer near a wall
Source: F.M. White, Fluid Mechanics, 7th Edition. McGraw-Hill Co., New York, NY, 2009.

Viscosity: property of a fluid by virtue of which the fluid resists a shear stress 2
Laminar versus Turbulent Flow:

When the inertial forces dominate over the viscous forces then the flow is turbulent.
When the viscous forces are dominant they are sufficient enough to keep all the fluid
particles in line, then the flow is laminar.

Laminar Flow
Molecular exchange of momentum
Motion in layers, Fluid particles move in straight lines
Dye does not mix with water
Simple mathematical analysis possible
Rare in practice.

Turbulent Flow
Motion with irregular fluctuation and mixing of chunks of fluid
Particle paths completely irregular
Fluctuations always have three components, (u, v and w)
Dye mixes rapidly and completely
Mathematical analysis very difficult, so experimental measures are used.
Most common type of flow. 3
Laminar and turbulent flow over a flat plate

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(a) Smooth ball

(b) Ball with dimples

Laminar and turbulent flow over a ball

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Turbulent Flow:

The three regimes of viscous flow: (a) laminar flow at low Re; (b) transition at
intermediate Re; (c) turbulent flow at high Re.

Definition of mean and fluctuating turbulent variables: (a) velocity; (b) pressure.

Source: F.M. White, Fluid Mechanics, 7th Edition. McGraw-Hill Co., New York, NY, 2009. 6
 The time mean () of a turbulent function u(x, y, z, t) is defined by:

T : An averaging period taken to be longer than any significant period of the

fluctuations themselves (an averaging period T 5 s is usually quite adequate).

u : The velocity fluctuation, which is defined as the deviation of u from its

average value ()

This fluctuation has zero mean because:

In turbulent flow, customarily, the root-mean-square (RMS) value is used to describe

the fluctuation:
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Root-mean-square value of the velocity:

The velocity vector in turbulent flow is given as:

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Turbulence intensity is defined as:

In the real flow (the fluctuations):

In the ideal or isotropic turbulence flow (the fluctuations):

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The mass conservation equation for laminar flow is given as (incompressible & steady ):

or in vector form

The mass conservation equation in turbulent flow is given as (incompressible & steady ):

or in vector form

The momentum conservation equation for laminar flow is given as (see previous lectures):

L.H.S: Convective term R.H.S: Diffusion term (excluded pressure and body force)
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Q: The above equations are Navier-Stocks equations, why?
The momentum conservation equation for turbulent flow is given as:

L.H.S: Convective term R.H.S: Diffusion term (excluded pressure and body force)

Now compare the momentum conservation equation for turbulent and laminar flow.
An extra stresses marked with yellow have been appeared. These extra turbulent stress
are termed as Reynolds stresses or turbulent stresses.

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 Turbulent Boundary Layer:

As shown in the figure, there are three

regions in turbulent flow near a wall:
Wall layer: Viscous shear dominates.
Outer layer: Turbulent shear dominates.
Overlap layer: Both types of shear are
important

Typical velocity and shear distributions in turbulent

For the wall layer, Prandtl deduced in 1930
flow near a wall: (a) shear; (b) velocity

Source: F.M. White, Fluid Mechanics, 7th Edition. McGraw-Hill Co., New York, NY, 2009.

Using dimensional analysis approach:

The above equation is called the law of the wall 12

 For the overlap layer, Millikan in 1937 showed that for the smooth wall:

Over the full range of turbulent smooth wall flows, the dimensionless constants and
B are found to have the approximate values = 0.41 and B 5.0. The above equation
is called the logarithmic overlap layer

For the outer layer, Karmen in 1933 deduced :

The function G depends on the flow nature in the outer region (see the figure in the next slide)
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Experimental verification of the inner, outer, and overlap layer laws relating velocity profiles in turbulent wall flow.

Source: F.M. White, Fluid Mechanics, 7th Edition. McGraw-Hill Co., New York, NY, 2009.

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Boundary Layer of the Flat Plate:

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Flat Plate Boundary Layer
Laminar B.L Turbulent B.L Definitions

Q: is this pressure or friction drag? 16

Comparison of Laminar and Turbulent Boundary Layers:

Comparison of laminar and turbulent flat plate boundary layer profiles in physical variables at the
same x-location. The Reynolds number is Rex = 1.0 x 106.
Source: Cengel, Yunus A. Fluid mechanics. Tata McGraw-Hill Education, 2010. 17
Circular Cylinder (Potential Theory):
The drag coefficient and pressure distribution from the potential theory as function of the
angle in the circular cylinder is given as (see also the supplemental materials with lecture
1):

Drag force on the cylinder surface = Lift force on the cylinder surface = 0
from the potential theory (not real one)

Q: what is the friction drag from the potential theory?

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Boundary Layer Equation:
See supplemental material with lecture-2 for more clarifications.
The boundary layer equation is written as:

At the wall, u = v = 0 the above momentum equation becomes:

Bernoulli's equation (inviscid region):
In the flow of fluid along a streamline

Pressure Velocity

But Pressure Velocity

Equation that govern the separation

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Negative pressure gradients (favourable pressure)

When the flow over a boundary occurs when there is a pressure decrease in the
direction of flow, the fluid will accelerate and the boundary layer will become thinner.
The accelerating fluid maintains the fluid close to the wall in motion. Hence the flow
remains stable and the boundary layer separation does not occur (favourable pressure
or favourable gradient).

Positive pressure gradients (adverse pressure)

When the pressure increases in the direction of flow, the fluid outside the boundary
layer has enough momentum to overcome this pressure which is trying to push it
backwards. The fluid within the boundary layer has so little momentum that it will
very quickly be brought to rest, and most probably reversed in direction (laminar
B.L more vulnerable to separation in comparison with the turbulent B.L, why?) . If
this reversal occurs it lifts the boundary layer away from the surface as shown
below. 20
Boundary layer separation over flat plate( see also supplemental material s with lecture-2)

Effect of pressure gradient on boundary layer profiles; PI = point of inflection.

Source: F.M. White, Fluid Mechanics, 7th Edition. McGraw-Hill Co., New York, NY, 2009.

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Boundary layer separation over circular cylinder

Separation starts at Re=?

boundary layer

Flow over a circular cylinder

Source: http://www.efm.leeds.ac.uk/CIVE/CIVE1400/Section4/boundary_layer.htm
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 Distribution from potential theory

CD

Source: H. Schlichting, Boundary-Layer Theory, 6th Edition. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1968.

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Drag of Two-Dimensional Bodies at Re 104

Source: F.M. White, Fluid Mechanics, 7th Edition. McGraw-Hill Co., New York, NY, 2009.
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Drag of Three-Dimensional Bodies at Re 104

Source: F.M. White, Fluid Mechanics, 7th Edition. McGraw-Hill Co., New York, NY, 2009. 25
Example

2D

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Static and Total Pressure:

Static pressure is the pressure you have if the fluid isn't moving or if you are
moving with the fluid. Air would press against you equally in all directions. It
decreases with an increase in speed because of conservation law (review
Bernoullis equation). Total (or stagnation) pressure is the pressure a fluid exerts
as it is brought to a stop.

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Flow Description Streamline, Pathline & Streakline:

Streamline, pathline and streakline form powerful tools to describe a flow and
visualise it.

Streamline: the one that is drawn tangential to the velocity vector at every
point in the flow at a given instant and forms a powerful tool in understanding
flows (see below figure)

Streamlines

Source: http://www-mdp.eng.cam.ac.uk/web/library/enginfo/aerothermal_dvd_only/aero/fprops/cvanalysis/node8.html
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There is no flow normal to the streamlines (no flow crosses the
streamlines). Sometimes, we pull out a bundle of streamlines from inside of
a general flow for analysis. Such a bundle is called stream tube and is very
useful in analysing flows. If one aligns a coordinate along the streamtube
then the flow through it is one-dimensional (see below figure).

Streamtube

Source: http://www-mdp.eng.cam.ac.uk/web/library/enginfo/aerothermal_dvd_only/aero/fprops/cvanalysis/node8.html
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Pathline: the line traced by a given particle over some time period

Pathlines

Source: http://www-mdp.eng.cam.ac.uk/web/library/enginfo/aerothermal_dvd_only/aero/fprops/cvanalysis/node8.html

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Streakline: focuses on fluid particles that have gone through a fixed
position or point. At some instant of time the locus of all these particles are
marked and a line is drawn through them. Such a line is called a streakline.

Streaklines

Source: http://www-mdp.eng.cam.ac.uk/web/library/enginfo/aerothermal_dvd_only/aero/fprops/cvanalysis/node8.html

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 Difference between Pathlines and Streakline

Pathlines

Streakline

All four particles have passed through this point

Wait some time to plot the pathline of each particle (need time)
At some instant, we take an instantaneous snapshot to mark the position of the particles and plot the
streakline ( we also need some time to allow the particles that passed through a predefined point to travel
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some distance)
Example

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