Flow Classification

FLUID KINEMATICS - Part 2

(Chapter 4)

Flow Patterns: Classification and Visualization

V= velocity

Hasan Zobeyer, PhD, PEng, M.ASCE

Professor
Department of Water Resources Engineering
BUET 1) Time (t)
2) Space (s)
Course Notes provided by Dr. Weiming Wu

Flow Classification Flow Classification

Time as the benchmark Space as the benchmark
• The term uniform implies no change with location over a specified
• The term steady implies no change at
region.
a point with time.

• The opposite of steady is unsteady. Uniform flow (V is

constant along a V
0
streamline for a given s
Steady flow (at a given point V time instant)
V Flow in a channel Flow in a pipe
does not vary with time) 0
t
Unsteady flow (at a given point V
0
V is varying with time) t
Nonuniform flow (V
is varying along a V
0
streamline for a given s
Oscillating wake of a blunt-based airfoil time instant)
at Mach number 0.6. Photo (a) is an
instantaneous image, while photo (b) is
a long-exposure (time-averaged) image. Converging flow Rotating flow (vortex)

1
 Flow Classification Flow Classification
Laminar versus Turbulent Flow
Laminar flow: Low flow velocity and smooth appearance
Laminar flow: The highly
ordered fluid motion
characterized by smooth layers
of fluid. The flow of high-viscosity
fluids such as oils at low
velocities is typically laminar.

Turbulent flow: The highly

disordered fluid motion that
typically occurs at high velocities
and is characterized by velocity Turbulent flow: Intense mixing and unsteady flow
fluctuations. The flow of low-
viscosity fluids such as air at high
velocities is typically turbulent.

Transitional flow: A flow

that alternates between
Comparison of (a) instantaneous snapshot of an unsteady flow, and (b)
being laminar and turbulent.
long exposure picture of the same flow.

Flow Classification Flow Classification

Laminar versus Turbulent Flow One-, Two-, and Three-Dimensional Flows
• A flow field is best characterized by its velocity distribution.
=
• A flow is said to be one-, two-, or three-dimensional if the flow velocity varies in
one, two, or three dimensions, respectively.

The flow in Raquette River

Laminar/
Turbulent/
Transitional Flow?

(Blanckaert 2002)

(a) One-dimensional, (b) two-dimensional, and (c) three-dimensional flows:

2
 Flow Classification Flow Classification
Viscous versus Inviscid Regions of Flow
• However, the variation of velocity in certain directions can be small relative to
the variation in other directions and can be ignored.
Viscous flows: Flows in which the frictional effects are significant.
Inviscid flow regions: In many flows of practical interest, there are regions
(typically regions not close to solid surfaces) where viscous forces are
negligibly small compared to inertial or pressure forces.

The flow of an originally

uniform fluid stream
over a flat plate, and
The development of the velocity profile in a circular pipe. V = V(r, z) and thus the
the regions of viscous
flow is two-dimensional in the entrance region, and becomes one-dimensional
flow (next to the plate
downstream when the velocity profile fully develops and remains unchanged in
on both sides) and
the flow direction, V = V(r).
inviscid flow (away from
the plate).

Flow Classification Flow Classification

Internal versus External Flow Compressible versus Incompressible Flow
External flow: The flow of an unbounded fluid over a surface such
as a plate, a wire, or a ball. Incompressible flow: If the density of flowing fluid remains nearly
constant throughout (e.g., liquid flow).
Internal flow: The flow in a pipe or duct if the fluid is completely
bounded by solid surfaces. Compressible flow: If the density of fluid changes during flow (e.g., high-
speed gas flow)

• Water flow in a pipe is

internal flow, and When analyzing rockets, spacecraft, and other systems that involve
airflow over a ball is high-speed gas flows, the flow speed is often expressed by Mach
external flow . number

• The flow of liquids in a

duct is called open-
channel flow if the duct
Ma = 1 Sonic flow
is only partially filled Ma < 1 Subsonic flow
with the liquid and Ma > 1 Supersonic flow
External flow over a tennis ball, and the
there is a free surface. Ma >> 1 Hypersonic flow
turbulent wake region behind.

3
 Streamlines and Streamtubes Streamlines and Streamtubes

Streamline: A curve that is everywhere tangent to the instantaneous

local velocity vector.

Streamlines are useful as indicators of the instantaneous direction of

fluid motion throughout the flow field.

dy dx
 1.5  0.8 y   0.5  0.8 x
dy 1 d (0.8 y ) 1 d (0.8 y  1.5) 1
Since  1.5  0.8 y   0.8  0.8 y  1.5 
0.8  0.8 y  1.5

0.8
ln 0.8 y  1.5  C1

dx 1 d (0.8 x) 1 d (0.5  0.8 x) 1

 0.5  0.8 x  0.8  0.5  0.8 x 
0.8  0.5  0.8 x

0.8
ln 0.5  0.8 x  C2

1 1
 ln 0.8 y  1.5  C1  ln 0.5  0.8 x  C2
0.8 0.8

1
0.8
 ln 0.5  0.8 x  ln 0.8 y  1.5   C1  C2
ln  0.5  0.8 x  0.8 y  1.5   0.8  C1  C2 

 0.5  0.8 x  0.8 y  1.5  e0.8C C 

1 2

 0.5  0.8 x  0.8 y  1.5   e0.8 C C   C

1 2

C C
0.8 y  1.5  y  1.875
 0.5  0.8 x  0.8  0.5  0.8 x 

4
 C
y  1.875
0.8(0.5  0.8 x )

Streamlines are drawn by

setting various values for C in C=0.5 C=1 C=-2
X Y Y Y
the following equation: 0 2.5 4.375 -3.125
1 2.115385 2.836538 -0.04808
2 2.02381 2.470238 0.684524
C 3 1.982759 2.306034 1.012931
y  1.875 4 1.959459 2.212838 1.199324
0.8(0.5  0.8 x ) 5 1.944444 2.152778 1.319444
6 1.933962 2.110849 1.403302

Streamlines (solid black

curves) for the velocity field
of Example 4–4; velocity
vectors (blue arrows) are
superimposed for
comparison.

Streamtube Pathlines
A streamtube consists of a bundle of
• Pathline: The actual path traveled by
streamlines much like a communication
an individual fluid particle over some
cable consists of a bundle of fiber-optic
time period.
cables.
• A pathline is a Lagrangian concept in
Since streamlines are everywhere
that we simply follow the path of an
parallel to the local velocity, fluid cannot
individual fluid particle as it moves
cross a streamline by definition.
around in the flow field.
Fluid within a streamtube must remain
• Thus, a pathline is the same as the
there and cannot cross the boundary of
fluid particle’s material position vector A pathline is formed by following the
the streamtube.
(xparticle(t), yparticle(t), zparticle(t)) traced actual path of a fluid particle.
out over some finite time interval.
Both streamlines and
streamtubes are
instantaneous
quantities, defined at a
particular instant in time
according to the velocity In an incompressible flow field, a streamtube (a)
field at that instant. decreases in diameter as the flow accelerates or
converges and (b) increases in diameter as the flow
decelerates or diverges.

5
 Pathlines Streaklines

Streakline: The locus of

fluid particles that have
passed sequentially
through a prescribed point
in the flow.

Streaklines are the most

Pathlines produced by white tracer particles suspended in water and common flow pattern
captured by time-exposure photography; as waves pass horizontally, each generated in a physical
particle moves in an elliptical path during one wave period. experiment.

If you insert a small tube

into a flow and introduce a
continuous stream of
tracer fluid (dye in a water
flow or smoke in an air A streakline is formed by continuous
flow), the observed pattern introduction of dye or smoke from a point in
is a streakline. the flow. Labeled tracer particles (1 through
8) were introduced sequentially.

Streaklines

Streaklines produced by
colored fluid introduced
upstream

• Streaklines, streamlines, and pathlines are identical in steady flow but they
can be quite different in unsteady flow.

• The main difference is that a streamline represents an instantaneous flow

pattern at a given instant in time, while a streakline and a pathline are flow
patterns that have some age and thus a time history associated with them.

• A streakline is an instantaneous snapshot of a time-integrated flow pattern.

• A pathline, on the other hand, is the time-exposed flow path of an individual

particle over some time period.

6
 Flow Patterns in an Unsteady Flow Surface Flow Visualization Techniques

An unsteady, incompressible, two-dimensional velocity field
Streamlines, pathlines, and
streaklines for the oscillating
velocity field of Example 4–5.
The streaklines and pathlines
are wavy because of their
integrated time history, but the
streamlines are not wavy since
they represent an
instantaneous snapshot of the
velocity field.
• The direction of fluid flow immediately above a solid surface
can be visualized with tufts—short, flexible strings glued to the
surface at one end that point in the flow direction.
• Tufts are especially useful for locating regions of flow
separation, where the flow direction suddenly reverses.
• A technique called surface oil visualization can be used for
the same purpose—oil placed on the surface forms streaks
called friction lines that indicate the direction of flow.
• If it rains lightly when your car is dirty (especially in the winter
when salt is on the roads), you may have noticed streaks along
the hood and sides of the car, or even on the windshield.
• This is similar to what is observed with surface oil visualization.
• Lastly, there are pressure-sensitive and temperature-sensitive
paints that enable researchers to observe the pressure or
temperature distribution along solid surfaces.

Plots of Fluıd Flow Data Profile Plots

A profile plot indicates how the value
Regardless of how the results are obtained (analytically, experimentally, of a scalar property varies along some
or computationally), it is usually necessary to plot flow data in ways that desired direction in the flow field.
enable the reader to get a feel for how the flow properties vary in time
and/or space. In fluid mechanics, profile plots of any
scalar variable (pressure, temperature,
density, etc.) can be created, but the most
You are already familiar with time plots, which are especially useful in common one used in this book is the
turbulent flows (e.g., a velocity component plotted as a function of time), velocity profile plot.
and xy-plots (e.g., pressure as a function of radius). Since velocity is a vector quantity, we
usually plot either the magnitude of velocity
or one of the components of the velocity
In this section, we discuss three additional types of plots that are useful in vector as a function of distance in some
fluid mechanics— desired direction.
Profile plots of the horizontal
component of velocity as a
profile plots, vector plots, and contour plots. function of vertical distance; flow
in the boundary layer growing
along a horizontal flat plae: (a)
standard profile plot and (b)
profile plot with arrows. 28

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 Vector Plots
A vector plot is an array of arrows indicating the magnitude and
direction of a vector property at an instant in time.

Velocity vectors for the

velocity field of Example 4–1.
The scale is shown by the top
arrow, and the solid black
Results of CFD calculations of a two-
curves represent the
dimensional flow field consisting of
approximate shapes of some
free-stream flow impinging on a block
streamlines, based on the
of rectangular cross section.
calculated velocity vectors.
(a) streamlines,
The stagnation point is
(b) velocity vector plot of the upper
indicated by the blue circle.
half of the flow, and
(c) velocity vector plot, close-up view
revealing more details in the separated
29 flow region.

Contour Plots
A contour plot shows curves of constant
values of a scalar property (or magnitude of
a vector property) at an instant in time.
Contour plots (also called isocontour plots) are
generated of pressure, temperature, velocity
magnitude, species concentration, properties of
turbulence, etc.
The contours can be filled in with either colors or (a)
shades of gray; this is called a filled contour
plot.
A contour plot may consist simply of curves
indicating various levels of the property; this is
called a contour line plot.
A contour plot can quickly reveal regions of high
(or low) values of the flow property being studied.

Contour plots of the pressure field due to flow

impinging on a block, as produced by CFD
calculations; only the upper half is shown due
to symmetry; (a) filled color scale contour plot and
(b) contour line plot where pressure values are
displayed in units of Pa gage pressure