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Fluid Dynamics
Fluid dynamics is "the branch of applied science that is concerned with the
movement of liquids and gases," according to the American Heritage Dictionary.
Fluid dynamics is one of two branches of fluid mechanics, which is the study of
fluids and how forces affect them. (The other branch isfluidstatics,whichdeals
with fluids at rest.)
Scientists across several fields study fluid dynamics. Fluid dynamics provides
methods for studying the evolution of stars, ocean currents, weather patterns,
platetectonicsandevenbloodcirculation.Someimportanttechnologicalapplications
of fluid dynamics include rocket engines, wind turbines, oil pipelines and air
conditioning systems.
What is flow?
Themovementofliquidsandgasesisgenerallyreferredtoas"flow,"aconceptthat
describes how fluids behave and how they interact with their surrounding
environment — for example, water moving through a channel or pipe, or over a
surface. Flow can be either steady or unsteady. In his lecture notes, "Lectures in
Elementary Fluid Dynamics" (University of Kentucky, 2009) J. M. McDonough, a
professorofengineeringattheUniversityofKentucky,writes,"Ifallpropertiesof
a flow are independent oftime,thentheflowissteady;otherwise,itisunsteady."
That is, steadyflowsdonotchangeovertime.Anexampleofsteadyflowwouldbe
waterflowingthroughapipeataconstantrate.Ontheotherhand,afloodorwater
pouring from an old-fashioned hand pump are examples of unsteady flow.
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Flow can also be either laminar or turbulent. Laminar flows are smoother, while
turbulentflowsaremorechaotic.Oneimportantfactorindeterminingthestateof
a fluid’s flow is its viscosity, or thickness, where higher viscosity increases the
tendency of the flow to belaminar.PatrickMcMurtry,anengineeringprofessorat
the University of Utah, describes the difference in his online class notes,
"Observations About Turbulent Flows" (University of Utah, 2000), stating, "By
laminar flow we are generally referring to a smooth, steady fluid motion, in which
any induced perturbations are damped out due to the relatively strong viscous
forces.Inturbulentflows,otherforcesmaybeactingthecounteracttheactionof
viscosity."
Laminar flow is desirable in many situations, such as in drainage systems or
aeroplanewings,becauseitismoreefficientandlessenergyislost.Turbulentflow
can be useful for causing different fluids to mix together or for equalising
temperature. According to McDonough, most flows of interest are turbulent;
however, such flows can be very difficult to predict in detail, and distinguishing
between these two types of flow is largely intuitive.
Animportantfactorinfluidflowisthefluid'sReynoldsnumber(Re),whichisnamed
after 19th century scientist Osborne Reynolds, although it was first described in
1851 by physicist George Gabriel Stokes. McDonoughgivesthedefinitionofReas,
"the ratio ofinertialtoviscousforces."Theinertialforceisthefluid'sresistance
to change of motion, and the viscous force is the amount of friction due to the
viscosityorthicknessofthefluid.NotethatReisnotonlyapropertyofthefluid;
italsoincludestheconditionsofitsflowsuchasitsspeedandthesizeandshapeof
the conduit or any obstructions.
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AtlowRe,theflowtendstobesmooth,orlaminar,whileathighRe,theflowtends
tobeturbulent,formingeddiesandvortices.Recanbeusedtopredicthowagasor
liquid will flow around anobstacleinastream,suchaswateraroundabridgepiling
orwindoveranaircraftwing.Thenumbercanalsobeusedtopredictthespeedat
which flow transitions from laminar to turbulent.
Liquid flow
The study of liquid flow is called hydrodynamics. While liquids include all sorts of
substances, such as oil and chemical solutions, by far the most common liquid is
water, and most applications for hydrodynamics involve managing the flow of this
liquid. That includes flood control, operation of city water andsewersystems,and
management of navigable waterways. [Gallery: Dreamy Images Reveal Beauty in
Physics]
Hydrodynamics deals primarily with the flow of water in pipes or open channels.
Geology professor John Southard's lecture notes from an online course,
"Introduction to Fluid Motions" (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2006),
outline the main difference between pipe flow and open-channel flow: "flows in
closedconduitsorchannels,likepipesorairducts,areentirelyincontactwithrigid
boundaries," while "open-channel flows, on the other hand, are those whose
boundaries are not entirely a solid and rigid material." He states, "important
open-channel flows are rivers, tidal currents, irrigation canals, or sheets of water
running across the ground surface after a rain."
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Streaklines appear during a smoke test of semi-trailer aerodynamics in a wind
tunnel.
Streaklines appear during a smoke test of semi-trailer aerodynamics in a wind
tunnel. (Image credit: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory )
Gas flow
The flow of gas has many similarities to the flow of liquid, but it also has some
important differences. First, gas is compressible, whereas liquids are generally
consideredtobeincompressible.In"FundamentalsofCompressibleFluidDynamics"
(Prentice-Hall, 2006), author P.Balachandrandescribescompressiblefluid,stating,
"Ifthedensityofthefluidchangesappreciablythroughouttheflowfield,theflow
may be treated as a compressible flow." Otherwise, the fluid is considered to be
incompressible. Second, gas flow is hardly affected by gravity.
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The gas most commonly encountered in everyday life is air; therefore, scientists
have paid much attention to its flow conditions. Wind causes air to move around
buildings and other structures, and it can also be made to move by pumps and fans.
Oneareaofparticularinterestisthemovementofobjectsthroughtheatmosphere.
This branch of fluid dynamics is called aerodynamics, which is "the dynamics of
bodies moving relative to gases, especially the interaction of moving objects with
the atmosphere," according to the American Heritage Dictionary. Problems in this
field involve reducing drag on automobile bodies, designing more efficientaircraft
and wind turbines, and studying how birds and insects fly.
Bernoulli's principle
Scientists often try to visualise flow using figures called streamlines, streaklines
and pathlines. McDonough defines a streamline as "a continuous line within a fluid
such that the tangent at each point is thedirectionofthevelocityvectoratthat
point." In other words, a streamline shows the direction of the flow at any
particular point in the flow. A streakline, according to McDonough, is "the locus
[location]ofallfluidelementsthathavepreviouslypassedthroughagivenpoint."A
pathline (or particle path),hewrites,is"thetrajectoryofanindividualelementof
fluid." If the flow does not change over time,thepathlinewillbethesameasthe
streamline. However, in the case of turbulent or unsteady flow,theselinescanbe
quite different.
Most problemsinfluiddynamicsaretoocomplextobesolvedbydirectcalculation.
In these cases, problems must be solved by numeric methods using computer
simulations. This area of study is called numerical or computational fluid dynamics
(CFD), which Southard defines as "a branch of computer-based science that
provides numerical predictions of fluid flows." However, because turbulent flow
tends to be nonlinear and chaotic, particular care must be taken in setting up the
rulesandinitialconditionsforthesesimulations.Smallchangesatthebeginningcan
result in large differences in the results.
The accuracy of simulations can be improved by dividing the volume into smaller
regions and using smaller time steps, but this increases computing time. For this
reason, CFD should advance as computing power increases.
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Jim Lucas is a freelance writer and editor specializing in physics, astronomy and
engineering. He is general manager of Lucas Technologies.