Prof. Jaime Alberto Escobar G.

Faculty of Engineering
CONCEPT OF CONTINUUM
The average distance air molecules can travel
Mean free path before collision with a neighbor molecule (In
the order of 8 x 10-8 m)

R: Universal gas constant.

T: Temperature.
d: Molecular diameter.
N A: Avogadro number.
P: Pressure.

The continuum assumption of the classic fluid static and dynamic equations is valid
provided the mean free path of the molecules is smaller than the characteristic
dimensions of the flow domain:

Knudsen number Kn  1

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EXTERNAL AERODYNAMICS
• Bodies immersed in a fluid.
• The main interest is to predict forces and moments.

INTERNAL AERODYNAMICS
• Flow inside ducts: engines, pipes, rockets, pumps, nozzles, etc...
• Calculation of engine thrust in a combustion chamber.

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 AERODYNAMICS CLASSIFICATION (Speed)
• M < 0.3 = Subsonic incompressible aerodynamics.
• 0.3 < M < 0.8 = Subsonic compressible aerodynamics.
• 0.8 < M < 1.2 = Transonic aerodynamics.
• 1.2 < M < 4~5 = Supersonic aerodynamics.
• 4~5 < M = Hypersonic aerodynamics.

FLOW PROPERTIES
a. Pressure.
• The intensity of the molecular bombardment force.
dF  F
• In average: P  lim   P
dA 0dA  A
b. Density.
• Measure of the amount of material contained in a given volume.

• In average:
→

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FLOW PROPERTIES (Cont’d)
c. Temperature.
• Measure of the average kinetic energy of molecules in the gas.

3 KE: Mean molecular kinetic energy.

KE  kT k: Boltzman constant.
2 T: Temperature.
d. Viscosity.
• The tendency of a fluid to resist sliding between layers.
• In liquids is caused by intermolecular forces (viscosity decreases with T).
• In gases, the viscosity is associated with exchange of momentum (viscosity
increases with T).
/

• Dynamic (absolute) viscosity

• Kinematic viscosity : It may be regarded as a measure of

the relative magnitudes of viscosity and inertia of the
fluid.

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SPEED OF SOUND
• Propagation velocity of pressure waves in a medium.
• For perfect gases:
for air

• Mach number
z

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SPEED OF SOUND
• For an ideal gas:

PV  mRT
or

• Conditions for equation of state to

be valid:

1. Low pressure.
2. Continuum assumption.

PV
Z
mRT

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AIRFOILS AND AERODYNAMIC FORCES
• Aerodynamic forces are due to:
1. Pressure distribution over the body surface.
2. Shear stress distribution over the body surface.

• The total pressure and shear stress over the surface produce a resultant force (R)
and a moment (M).

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PREDICTION OF AERODYNAMIC FORCES

CLvsAlpha.png

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PREDICTION OF AERODYNAMIC FORCES (Cont’d)

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 HOMEWORK
1. Review the Lecture “Math Review” (Quiz)
2. Read from the book Anderson, Jr., J.D., Computational Fluid Dynamics, Singapure,
McGraw Hill, 1995 Sections: 2.2, 2.3, and 2.4.

COMPLEMENTARY ACTIVITIES
Search internet for:
• “Continuum Hypothesis”
• “Continuum Assumption”
• “Mean free path”
• “Internal aerodynamics”
• “External Aerodynamics”
• “Mach Number”
• “Equation of state”

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