MEC3451

Fluid Kinematics

Specifically, well be defining kinematic quantities. Kinematics is the study of motion itself,
without worrying about the causes for that motion. For instance, Newtons second law for the
motion of a particle says:
ma = Fnet
The left hand side involves a, the acceleration, which is a kinematic quantity describing the
motion of the particle. The right hand side tells us why that motion occurs. In kinematics,
we try to understand more about the motion of a particle or a material from information that
we already have about the motion.
In the context of fluid mechanics, kinematics asks the question: GIVEN a certain velocity
field v (r, t), can we get a better understanding of that velocity field? Before we analyze
velocity fields, it is worth identifying different kinds of velocity fields. We can classify velocity
fields based on their dimensionality (see section 4.1.2 in textbook). But for the discussion at
hand it is useful to look at whether or not a flow depends on time t, and whether or not it
depends on position r.
time dependent: UNSTEADY FLOW
time independent: STEADY FLOW
position dependent: NON-UNIFORM
position independent: UNIFORM
We can therefore have four combinations:
STEADY UNIFORM
UNSTEADY, UNIFORM
STEADY, NON-UNIFORM UNSTEADY, NON-UNIFORM

Pathlines

One of the first things that we could do if we are given v (r, t) is to draw the paths taken by
individual fluid particles as they travel in a manner prescribed by the function v. Recall that
v (r, t) is the same as v (x, y, z, t) and:
v (x, y, z, t) = u (x, y, z, t) i + v (x, y, z, t) j + w (x, y, z, t) k
Physically, this means that if a fluid particle is located at any instant t at r, it will have a
velocity given by the function v (r, t). Since the velocity of a fluid particle located at r is just
dr
, we have:
dt
dr
= v (r, t)
(1)
dt
or in terms of components:
dx
dy
dz
= u (x, y, z, t) ,
= v (x, y, z, t) ,
= w (x, y, z, t)
dt
dt
dt

(2)

Since we are given the function v, the functions on the right-hand side of Eq. (1) are
known. Eq. (2) thus represent a set of ordinary differential equations that can be integrated
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in time, given the initial location of the particle at t = 0, to obtain its position at any other
time t i.e we can obtain x(t), y(t) and z(t) for that particle. The smooth line connecting all
these positions is the pathline.
[see example 4.3b in the textbook]

Streamlines

Streamlines are a little more abstract than pathlines. Here we freeze the velocity field at some
time t and then draw lines such that if we take the tangent to any point on a line, it will
give us both the speed and direction of the fluid velocity at that point, at that time t. Note
that streamlines provide an image of the entire flow field at a certain instant of time. For an
unsteady flow field, streamlines change with time; for instance as the angle of attack of an
aerofoil is changed, the flow fields change with time may look as shown in Figure. (1)

Figure 1: Conditions on surface.

At each time, the velocity at point P is given by the tangent to the streamline running
through P0 at P . This velocity however is different at different times since the streamline
through P is constantly changing its shape due to the unsteady nature of the flow. In such
an unsteady flow, fluid particles take paths that are very different to the streamline.
So how do we determine the streamline through some point P at rP = (xP , yP , zP ), at
some time t0 , given the velocity field function v (r, t) = (u (r, t) , v (r, t) , w (r, t)). First, set
t = t0 . Then plug in rP into the function to get the velocity components u (rP , t0 ), v (rP , t0 ),
w (rP , t0 ).
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Figure 2:

As noted before, the velocity vector at any point gives the tangent vector to the streamline
at that point i.e. v at P is the tangent to the streamline at P . Now, imagine taking a small
step of size S in the direction along v. The displacement vector S of this step is:
S = magnitude of step unit vector inv s direction ,
= S v/V ,
u
v
w 
i+ j+ k
= S
V
V
V

(3)

where V is the speed i.e. the magnitude of v at point P . But this S must be the vector
combination of x, y and z along each of the three co-ordinate axes:
S = xi + yj + zk

(4)

Comparing Eqs (3) and (4) we see that:

x =
or

S
S
S
u; y =
v; z =
w
V
V
V

x
y
z
S
=
=
=
u
v
w
V
In the limit of S 0, i.e. for infinitesimally small differential steps,

(5)

dS
dx
dy
dz
=
=
=
V
u
v
w
Since this equation was derived for an arbitrary point in space, for an arbitrary flow field, it
is valid generally, and is known as the equation for a streamline. Similarly, we can show that
in cylindrical polar co-ordinates,
dS
dr
rd
dz
=
=
=
V
vr
v
vz
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So how do we use these equations? In 2D planar flows (no z component to worry about),
Eq. (??) is: dx
= dy
, or
u
v
dy
v(x, y)
=
all at fixed time t0
(6)
dx
u(x, y)
The right hand side of Eq. (7) is completely known since the velocity field is given! Therefore,
the differential equation can be integrated (either analytically or using say MATLAB) to give
us an equation of a line y(x).
In simple pen-and-paper problems, when we perform the integration for the equation above,
we will get an integration constant, C. For instance, if u = x2 y and v = xy 2 ,
(xy 2 )
y
dy
=
= .
2
dx
xy
x
Therefore,
Z

dy
=
y

dx
+C
x

or
ln y = ln x + C
or
ln(x y) = C
This is the general solution for a streamline for the u and v given in this example. Note that
each point in the flow region can have only one streamline passing through it. To find the
specific streamline passing through a particular point, say (xP , yP ) = (1, 2), we substitute these
co-ordinates, we get C = ln 2 = 0.693. Therefore, the equation of the specific streamline that
passes through that point (xP , yP ) = (1, 2) is ln(x y) = 0.693. To generate other streamlines,
we will have to choose other points, and determine for each of those points, the constant C.
Thus, we can generate a family of curves, all following the same general equation, but each
with a different value of C. [See example 4.3(a) in the text-book.]

Figure 3: Streamlines.

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In cylindrical-polar co-ordinates for 2D flows,

1 dr
vr (r, )
=
all at fixed time t0
r d
v (r, )

(7)

Streamlines = Pathlines in steady flows

Going back to Eq. (2), we can see that for a pathline:

dx
dy
dz
=
=
= dt
u (x, y, z, t)
v (x, y, z, t)
w (x, y, z, t)

(8)

This looks similar to Eq. (5), except that in Eq. (5):

t is held fixed at some time t0
the right-hand side of the Eq. is not dt as in Eq. (8) but

dS
.
V

When drawing streamlines the fluid particles are frozen in their tracks, but we, the observer,
take steps of S jumping from particle to particle, find out (since we know the velocity field
function) what the velocity of the particle at that location is, and then move to the next
particle in the direction of VV .
Comparing Eqs (8) and (5) also tells us that they will be identical when
a u, v and w do not depend on time t at any position (x, y, z);
b dt =

dS
.
V

Both these conditions are satisfied for a STEADY flow i.e. streamlines and pathlines are
identical in steady flows.