Please Make A Note: 9.

Derivation of the Continuity Equation in Spherical Coordinates

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9. Derivation of the Continuity Equation in Spherical Coordinates

We start by selecting a spherical control volume dV. As shown in the figure below, this is given by where r, , and stand for the radius, polar, and azimuthal angles, respectively. The azimuthal angle is also referred to as the zenith or colatitude angle. The differential mass is

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We will represent the velocity field via

In an Eulerian reference frame mass conservation is represented by accumulation, net flow, and source terms in a control volume.

Accumulation
The accumulation term is given by the time rate of change of mass. We therefore have

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The net flow through the control volume can be divided into that corresponding to each direction.

Radial Flow
Starting with the radial direction, we have The inflow area Ain is a trapezoid whose area is given by The key term here is the sine term. Note that the mid segment is the average of the bases (parallel sides). Upon expansion of Ain, and in the limit of vanishing d, we have substitution into Ain yields where high order terms have been dropped. The outflow in the radial direction is

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but where and By only keeping the lowest (second & third) order terms in the resulting expression, we have Note, that in the expression for Aout, we kept both second order and third order terms. The reason for this is that this term will be multiplied by "dr" and therefore, the overall order will be three. In principle, one must carry all those terms until the final substitution is made, and only then one can compare terms and keep those with the lowest order. At the outset, the net flow in the radial direction is given by

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Polar Flow ()
The inflow in the polar direction is where

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The outflow in the direction is

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where Upon expansion, and keeping both second and third order terms, we get

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Finally, the net flow in the polar direction is

Azimuthal Flow ()
The inflow in the azimuthal direction is given by with while the outflow is

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At the outset, the net flow in the polar direction is

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Continuity Equation
Now, by collecting all mass fluxes we have

which, upon dividing by dV and combining terms, reduces to

which is the continuity equation in spherical coordinates. Voila! [Previous: Continuity Eq. in Cylindrical Coordinates] [Table of Contents] [Next: How Euler Derived the Momentum Equations]

Cite as: Saad, T. "9. Derivation of the Continuity Equation in Spherical Coordinates". http://pleasemakeanote.blogspot.com/2010/02/9-derivation-of-continuity-equation-in.html

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3 comments:
Alex Sep 19, 2010 05:27 PM Thanks a lot for the derivation, I was having some issues picturing the spherical element. A better way of doing it is by doing the grouping done in the last line using the product rule when you calculate each difference in mass flow rate. Also if you leave some second order terms, when you divide by dV, then you can say and as dx_k go to 0, those terms go away. Reply

BLOGROLL

Anonymous Nov 28, 2010 06:43 AM There is an error in the last line. In polar coordinates, it should be derivative of ro*v*sin(theta) wrt theta instead of derivative of just ro*v wrt theta. Reply

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