Article ID: x505 - Static, Total and Environment pressure boundary conditions

Static, Total and Environment pressure boundary conditions

Article ID: x505

Solution ID: S-060892
Product(s): SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation
Version: All Versions
Category: Pre-processing
Created: 10/29/2012
Last Revised: 08/26/2015
Discussion
This article explains the differences between static, dynamic, total and environment pressure from a
physical standpoint.
Note:

● For a mathematical explanation rather than a physical one, please see Article ID: x131 -
Static, Total and Dynamic pressure equations and relationships (Solution ID: S-019388)

Static Pressure
In fluid dynamics, static pressure is the pressure at a nominated point in a fluid. Many authors use
the term static pressure in place of pressure to avoid ambiguity.
In Aerodynamics (page 21), L.J. Clancy writes: "To distinguish it from the total and dynamic
pressures, the actual pressure of the fluid, which is associated not with its motion but with its state,
is often referred to as the static pressure, but where the term pressure alone is used it refers to this
static pressure."
Static pressure can be measured with a tube having its opening parallel to the fluid flow.

See Article ID: 306 - Static, Total and Dynamic Pressure measurement (Solution ID: S-019706).

Dynamic Pressure
In incompressible fluid dynamics dynamic pressure (indicated with q, or Q, and sometimes called
velocity pressure) is the quantity defined by: q = ½ ρv²
where (using SI units):
q = dynamic pressure in pascals,
ρ = fluid density in kg/m3 (e.g. density of air),

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Article ID: x505 - Static, Total and Environment pressure boundary conditions

v = fluid velocity in m/s.

Dynamic pressure is closely related to the kinetic energy of a fluid particle, since both quantities are
proportional to the particle's mass (through the density, in the case of dynamic pressure) and
square of the velocity. Dynamic pressure is in fact one of the terms of Bernoulli's equation, which is
essentially an equation of energy conservation for a fluid in motion.
The dynamic pressure is equal to the difference between the total pressure and the static pressure.
Dynamic pressure is not a boundary condition that can be directly applied in Flow simulation.

Total Pressure
In fluid dynamics, total pressure (p0) refers to the sum of static pressure p, dynamic pressure q,
and gravitational head, as expressed by Bernoulli's principle:
p0 p = q + ρgz

where ρ is the density of the fluid, g is the local acceleration due to gravity, and z is the height
above a datum.
If the variation in height above the datum is zero, or so small it can be ignored, the above equation
reduces to the following simplified form:
p0 p = q
The total pressure is also called stagnation pressure.
Total pressure is measured with an impact tube.
The basic impact tube consists of a tube pointing directly into the fluid flow. As this tube contains
fluid, a pressure can be measured; the moving fluid is brought to rest (stagnates) as there is no
outlet to allow flow to continue. This pressure is the stagnation pressure of the fluid, also known as
the total pressure or (particularly in aviation) the Pitot pressure.

See Article ID: 306 - Static, Total and Dynamic Pressure measurement (Solution ID: S-019706).

Environment Pressure
Unlike static, dynamic and total pressures, the Environment Pressure is not a physical quantity. It is
merely a type of boundary condition in Flow Simulation. The Environment Pressure condition is
interpreted by Flow Simulation as a total pressure for inlet flows and as a static pressure for outlet
flows. If in the course of calculation a vortex crosses an opening with the Environment pressure
condition specified, this pressure is considered as the total pressure for the part of opening through
which the flow enters the model and as the static pressure for the part of opening through which the
flow leaves the model.

In a simple internal flow analysis, if I apply static pressure at outlet of equal magnitude

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Article ID: x505 - Static, Total and Environment pressure boundary conditions

instead of environmental pressure, how different my results are going to be?

The only difference between static pressure and environmental pressure depends if there is vortex
flow near the opening. If there is no vortex flow then there should be no difference.
If there is a vortex near the opening, the flow that is coming back through the opening is calculated
using static pressure if a static pressure boundary condition is applied at the opening. If
environmental pressure is used as the boundary condition then the flow is calculated assuming total
pressure. Environmental pressure is more accurate if there is vortex flow near the opening. If there
is no vortex flow near the opening then the results should be the same no matter if you use static
pressure or environmental pressure.

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