Lecture 4

Fluid Kinematics
The study of how fluids flow
& how to describe fluid motion

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 Objectives

• Understand Lagrangian and Eulerian descriptions

• Distinguish between various types of flow
patterns and flow Visualization
• Understand the usefulness of the Reynolds
transport theorem

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 Lagrangian and Eulerian Descriptions
There are two distinct ways to describe motion: Lagrangian and Eulerian
Lagrangian description: Track the position and velocity of each
individual fluid parcel.

Track of the position and velocity

Individual objects can be tracked. of individual particles must be kept.

Police follow the path of an individual

car, while a traffic engineer is
interested in the number of cars
passing a particular location.
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 Eulerian description:
Eulerian description: A
finite volume called a
flow domain or control
volume is defined,
through which fluid
flows in and out. Instead
of tracking individual The field variable at a
fluid particles, we particular location at a
particular time is for
define field variables,
whichever fluid particle
functions of space and happens to occupy that
time, within the control location at that time
volume.

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 Eulerian description: key message
We don’t really care what happens to
individual fluid particles; rather we are
concerned with the pressure,
velocity, acceleration, etc., of
whichever fluid particle happens to be
at the location of interest at the
time of interest

Field variables define the flow field

Velocity field expanded in Cartesian coordinates:
   
V u, v, w  u  x, y, z , t  i  v x, y, z , t  j  w x, y, z , t  k

The air speed probe

mounted under the wing of
an airplane measures the
air speed at that location

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 Example
A steady, two-dimensional velocity field is given by
V = (u, v) = (-0.781 - 4.67x)i + (-3.54 + 4.67y)j
Calculate the location of the stagnation point (a point in the flow
field where the velocity is zero).
At a stagnation point, both u and v must equal zero. At any point
(x,y) in the flow field, the velocity components u and v are
obtained from velocity vector:
u = −0.781− 4.67x v = −3.54 + 4.67 y
Setting these to zero yields:

Stagnation point: 0=-0.781-4.67x x=-0.16724

0=-3.54+4.67y y=0.75803

So, yes there is a stagnation point; its location is x = -0.167,

y = 0.758 (to 3 digits).

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Acceleration field
Lagrangian Eulerian
The fluid particle moves with the flow

u u u u
The fluid particle is accelerating with ax  u v w
the fluid flow t x y z

In Cartesian coordinates, the

v v v v
components of the acceleration ay   u  v  w
vector: t x y z
w w w w
az  u v w
t x y z
Acceleration can be non-zero even
for steady flows- the exit speed of
the water is much higher than the
water speed in the hose, implying
that fluid particles have
accelerated even though the flow is
steady. 7
 Material Derivative
The total derivative operator d/dt is given a special name, the material
derivative. It is assigned a spatial notation, D/Dt, in order to emphasize that
it is formed by following a fluid particle as it moves through the flow field.

The material derivative D/Dt is defined

by following a fluid particle as it moves
throughout the flow field to the right.

Material derivative D d    
   V   
(total derivative) Dt dt t  
  
 DV dV V   
Material a (x, y, z,t)     V   V
acceleration Dt dt t  
  
Material derivative  P
D P d P   
of pressure    V    P
Dt dt t  

Other names for the material derivative include total, particle,

Lagrangian, Eulerian, and substantial derivative. 8
 Example
A steady, incompressible, two-dimensional velocity field is given by the
following components in the xy-plane:
u = 1.85 + 2.33x + 0.656y
v = 0.754 - 2.18x – 2.33y
Calculate the acceleration field (find expressions for acceleration
components ax and ay), and calculate the acceleration at
the point (x, y) = (-1, 2).
The acceleration field components are obtained from its definition (the
material acceleration) in Cartesian coordinates,
u u u u
ax  u v w  0  (1.85  2.33 x  0.65 y )(2.33)  (0.754  2.18 x  2.33 y )(0.656)  0
t x y z
v v v v
ay   u  v  w  0  (1.85  2.33x  0.65 y )(2.18)  (0.754  2.18 x  2.33 y )(2.33)  0
t x y z

where the unsteady terms are zero since this is a steady flow, and the
terms with w are zero since the flow is two dimensional.
The above equation is simplified to:
ax=4.8051+3.9988x ay=-5.7898+3.9988y
At the point (x,y) = (-1,2),
ax=0.806 ay=2.21 9
Flow visualisation & patterns
 Flow visualization: The visual examination of
flow field features.
 While quantitative study of fluid dynamics
requires advanced mathematics, much can be
learned from flow visualization.
 Flow visualization is useful not only in physical
experiments but in numerical solutions as well
[computational fluid dynamics (CFD)].
The world first flow visualization
representation, drawn by the hands
of Leonardo da Vinci; circa 1500.

Spinning baseball
with the flow speed
of 23m/s and the
ball rotation of
630rpm (F. N. M.
Brown).

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 Flow patterns : Indicators of the instantaneous direction of fluid
motion throughout the flow field

Streamlines: A streamline is a curve that is everywhere tangent

to the instantaneous local velocity vector

Equation for a dr dx dy dz
streamline:
  
V u v w

Streamline in dy v
x-y plane:

dx u

Streamlines cannot be directly observed experimentally except in steady flow

fields.
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Streamtube: Consists of a bundle of streamlines much like a
communications cable consists of a bundle of fiber-optic cables.
Fluid within a streamtube must remain there and cannot cross the boundary
of the streamtube.

In an incompressible flow field, a streamtube (a) decreases in

diameter as the flow accelerates or converges and (b) increases
in diameter as the flow decelerates or diverges.

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Pathlines:A pathline is the actual path travelled by
an individual fluid particle over some time period.
A pathline is a Lagrangian concept in that we simply
follow the path of an individual fluid particle as it
moves around in the flow field.

Tracer particle
location at time t:

  t
x  x start   V dt
t start

For steady flow, pathlines are identical

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to streamlines
Particle image velocimetry
(PIV):
A modern experimental
technique that utilizes short
segments of particle pathlines
to measure the velocity field
over an entire plane in a flow.
The flow is illuminated by two
flashes of light (usually a light
sheet from a laser) to produce
two bright spots (recorded by
a camera) for each moving
particle.
Then, both the magnitude and
direction of the velocity vector
at each particle location can be
inferred, assuming that the
tracer particles are small
enough that they move with the
fluid.
Streaklines: A streakline is the locus of fluid particles
that have passed sequentially through a prescribed point
in the flow

If the flow is steady, streamlines, pathlines and

streaklines are identical
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Key Message about Flow patterns
 A streamline represents an instantaneous
flow pattern at a given instant in time

 A streakline and a pathline are flow patterns

that have some age thus a time history
associated with them

 A streakline is an instantaneous snapshot of a time-

integrated flow pattern
 A pathline is the time-exposed flow path of an
individual particle over some time period

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Timelines: A timeline is a set of adjacent fluid particles
that were marked at the same instant in time

Timelines in a channel flow between

two parallel walls

Timelines produced by a
hydrogen bubble wire
are used to visualize the
boundary layer velocity
profile shape

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 Plot of flow data
it is usually necessary to plot flow data in ways that enable the reader to get
a feel for how the flow properties vary in time and/or space.

Types of plot: Time plot, xy-plots, profile plot, vector plot, and contour plots

profile plot vector plot

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contour plots
 The Reynolds Transport Theorem
Two methods of analyzing the spraying of
deodorant from a spray can:
(a) We follow the fluid as it moves and
deforms. This is the system approach—no
mass crosses the boundary, and the total
mass of the system remains fixed.
(b) We consider a fixed interior volume of
the can. This is the control volume
approach—mass crosses the boundary.

The relationship between the time rates of change of

an extensive property for a system and for a control
volume is expressed by the Reynolds transport
theorem (RTT).
It provides a link between the system approach and
the control volume approach
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RTT: continuing
B: extensive property (mass, energy,
momentum.)
b=B/m: intensive property
Bsys ,t  BCV ,t coincide at t
Bsys ,t  t  BCV ,t  t  BI ,t  t  BII ,t  t system at t+t

Bsys ,t  t  Bsys ,t BCV ,t  t  BCV ,t BI ,t  t BII ,t  t

  
t t t t
t  0

dBsys dBCV  
  B in  B out B net
dt dt
b2  2V2 A2
b1 1V1 A1
The time rate of change of the property
B of the system is equal to the time
rate of change of B of the control
volume plus the net flux of B out of the
control volume by mass crossing the 21
control surface.
RTT: continuing

    
B net  B out  B in  
CS
b V  n dA

dBCV d
dt

dt 
CV
bd

dB sys d  

RTT, fixed CV: dt


dt 
CV
 bd   
CS
 b V  n dA

dB sys d  
RTT, nonfixed CV:
dt

dt  CV
 bd   CS
 b V r  n dA
r r r
V r  V  V CS
dB sys  
RTT, Steady
flow: dt
 CS
 b V  n dA
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 RTT: continue…..
dBsys d  
RTT, nonfixed CV:
dt

dt 
CV
bd  
CS
b V r  n dA

Relative velocity crossing a control

surface is found by vector addition
of the absolute velocity of the
fluid and the negative of the local
velocity of the control surface.
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 RTT: continue………..

dBsysd  
RTT, steady flow:   bd U  bV r  n dA
dt dt CV CS

    

A
b V r  n dA  bavg  avg V r ,avg  n A  bavg m

dBsys d
  b dV   m& r bavg   m{
& b r avg
dt dt CV out
{ in
for each outlet for each inlet

m& r  avgV&r  avg Vr ,avg A

Approximate RTT for well -defined inlets and outlets:
dBsys d
  b dV   avg bavgVr ,avg A   avg bavgVr ,avg A
dt dt CV out 144244 3 in 14 4244 3
for each outlet for each inlet
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An example control volume in which there
is one well-defined inlet (1) and two well-
defined outlets (2 and 3). In such cases,
the control surface integral in the RTT can
be more conveniently written in terms of
the average values of fluid properties
crossing each inlet and outlet.
Relationship between Material Derivative and RTT

The Reynolds transport theorem for finite volumes (integral analysis) is

analogous to the material derivative for infinitesimal volumes (differential
analysis). In both cases, we transform from a Lagrangian or system
viewpoint to an Eulerian or control volume viewpoint.

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 Summary
 Lagrangian and Eulerian Descriptions
 Flow Patterns and Flow Visualization
 Plots of Fluid Flow Data
 The Reynolds Transport Theorem

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