Classification of Fluid Flows Fortunately, in many engineering applications, the flow can be considered as two-dimensional. e In such a situation, one of the velocity components (say, w) is either identically zero or much smaller than the other two components, and the flow conditions vary essentially only in two directions (say, x and y). ° Hence, the velocity is reduced to V =ui +vj_ where (u,v) are functions of (x, y) (and possibly t). e It is sometimes possible to further simplify a flow analysis by assuming that two of the velocity components are negligible, leaving the velocity field to be approximated as a one-dimensional flow field. That is, ¥ =ui where the velocity u may vary across the section of flow.