21/11/2016 AeronauticsFluidDynamicsLevel3(FlowEquations)

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AeronauticsFluidDynamicsLevel3
FlowEquations

EquationsDescribingFluidFlow
Theflowofmostfluidsmaybeanalyzedmathematicallybytheuseoftwoequations.Thefirst,often
referredtoastheContinuityEquation,requiresthatthemassoffluidenteringafixedcontrolvolumeeither
leavesthatvolumeoraccumulateswithinit.Itisthusa"massbalance"requirementposedinmathematical
form,andisascalarequation.TheothergoverningequationistheMomentumEquation,orNavierStokes
Equation,andmaybethoughtofasa"momentumbalance."Aswillbeseenlater,theNavierStokes
equationsarethefluiddynamicequivalentofNewtonssecondlaw,forceequalsmasstimesacceleration.
TheNavierStokesequationsarevectorequations,meaningthatthereisaseparateequationforeachofthe
coordinatedirections(usuallythree).

Therearemanymethodstoderivetheseequations.Oneofthesimplest,acontrolvolumeapproach,isused
heretodemonstratetheoriginofeachterm.Theseequationsmaybeusedtoanalyzetheflowofmost
commonfluidsininternal(pipes)orexternal(wings)flowsituations.Mathematicallyspeaking,these
equationsareextremelydifficulttosolveintheirrawform.TheNavierStokesequationsaresecondorder,
nonhomogenous,nonlinearpartialdifferentialequationsthatrequireatleasttwoboundaryconditionsfor
solution.Mostsolutionsthatexistareforhighlysimplifiedflowsituationswherecertaintermsinthe
equationshavebeeneliminatedthroughsomerationalprocess.

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DerivationoftheContinuityEquation
Letsstartwithasmall,fixedvolumeoffluidsomewhereinthemiddleofaflowstream.Thiselemental
volumehassidesoflengthsx,yandz(seeFigure1).

Figure1.Illustrationoftheelementalvolumeusedtoderivetheequations.

Theselengthsareshortenoughsothatchangesinallfluidpropertiesacrossthevolumemaybewell
approximatedwithlinearfunctions.Ontheotherhand,thesedimensionsmustmelargeenoughsothatthe
fluidmaybeconsideredasacontinuum(i.e.,muchlargerthanthemolecularscale).Themassoffluidinthis
elementalvolumedependsontheamountoffluidenteringandleavingthroughthefaces.Thedifference
betweenthesetwoistherateofmassthataccumulatesinthevolume.Therateofmassenteringafaceisthe
productofthedensity,thefluidvelocityandthefacearea.Forexample,onthesidefacingthereader,the
density()ismultipliedbythevelocityinthexdirection(u)andtheareaofthefaceyz.Thus,themass
fluxenteringthevolumethroughthisfaceis

Themassleavingthevolumeontheoppositesideofthevolumeisagaintheproductofdensity,velocityand
area,butthedensityandvelocitymayhavechangedasthefluidpassedthroughthevolume.Wewillexpress
thesechangesassmallquantities(sinceourvolumeissmallenough),i.e.,+andu+u.Themassflux
leavingthatfaceisthus

Thenegativesigntellsusthatthemassisleaving,ratherthanentering,thecontrolvolume.Performingthe
sameanalysisonthemassenteringthevolumethroughtheotherfacesofthevolumegivesus

wherevistheydirectionvelocityandwisthezdirectionvelocity.Similarly,themassfluxesleavingthe
volumeontheoppositefacesare

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Alloftheseaddedtogethermustequalthemassoffluidaccumulatinginthevolume, ,

Puttingallofthesetogether,wehave

Multiplyingoutthequantitiesinparenthesesresultsinthecancellationofsometermsandtheappearanceof
higherordertermssuchasuyz.Sincethequantitiesprecededbyareverysmall,productsofthese
quantitieswillbeextremelysmall,dependingonthenumberoftermsincludedintheproduct.Theterms
withfourofthesewillbemuchsmallerthanthetermswithonlythreeterms.Thus,allhigherorderterms
areneglected.Thisleaves

which,whendividedby andrearranged,yields

Theapplicationofbasiccalculus(takingthelimitasttendsto0)allowsustowritethisequationas

wherethesymbol / t,forexample,isa"partialderivative"withrespecttotime.Partialderivativesareused
whenthefunction(velocityordensityinthiscase)dependsonseveralvariables(3positionorspatial
variablesandtime,inthiscase).

TheContinuityEquationmaybesimplifiedforsomecommonflowsituationsasfollows.Ifthefluidmaybe
treatedasincompressible(asisthecasewithwaterorinlowvelocityairflows),thedensitywillbeconstant.
TheContinuityEquationthenbecomes

Inthecasewhentheflowissteady(alltimederivativesarezero),then

Notethatinthisequation,thedensityandvelocitiesarestillfunctionsofthespatialcoordinatesx,yandz.

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DerivationoftheMomentum(NavierStokes)Equations
Againwestartwithasmall,fixedvolumeoffluidsomewhereinthemiddleofaflowstreamwithsidesof
lengthsx,yandz(seeFigure1).Thelawoftheconservationofmomentumstatesthattherateof
changeofmomentuminthecontrolvolumemustequalthenetmomentumfluxintothecontrolvolumeplus
anyexternalforcesactingonthecontrolvolume.Wewillfirstdealwiththemomentumchangeandflux,
thenwiththeexternalforces.Recallthatmomentum,theproductofmassandvelocity,isavectorquantity.
ThisderivationwillbebasedonthemomentuminthexdirectioninCartesiancoordinates.Similar
derivationsmaybedemonstratedfortheyandzdirection.Thiswouldmakeagoodexercisetobetter
understandthismaterial.Therearethusthreedifferentmomentumequationsthattogethercomprisethe
NavierStokesEquations.

MomentumChangeandFlux
Thetimerateofchangeofmomentumwithinthecontrolvolumeis

where / tisthepartialderivativeoperatorwithrespecttotimepresentedabove.Thefluxofmomentumin
thexdirectionintoeachfaceofthecontrolvolumeistheproductofthemassflux(mfxA)andthex
directionvelocity,

whereAisthesurfacearea.Forthesidefacingthereader,themomentumfluxisthus

Themomentumfluxouttheoppositesideis

Themassfluxintothefacewithnormalvectorinthenegativeydirectionisasderivedforthecontinuity
equationabove,orv.Themomentumfluxintothisfaceisthus

Forthefaceopposite,themomentumfluxoutis

Usingasimilaranalysis,itiseasilyshownthatthemomentumfluxintoandoutofthefaceswithnormal
vectorsinthezdirectionare

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Ourfirstexpressionofthemomentumequationcomesfromaddingallofthesetermstogetherasexpressed
inthelawoftheconservationofmomentum

whereFxisthesumoftheexternalforcesonthecontrolvolume.Themomentumfluxesintothecontrol
volumecancelwiththefirstpartofthemomentumfluxesoutofthecontrolvolume.Performingthis
cancellationandmovingthemomentumfluxestothelefthandsideoftheequationgives

Usingtheproductrule,themomentumchangeandfluxescanbeexpandedto

whereitisnotedthatthelastfourtermsinparenthesesarethecontinuityequationtimesu.Sincethismustbe
zero,thatleaves

Inthesamemethodwecancalculatetheforceintheyandzdirections:

DerivationofForces
Wenowturnourattentiontotherighthandsideoftheequation,wheretheforcesonthecontrolvolumeare
represented.Therearetwotypesofforcestobeincluded:bodyforcesandsurfaceforces.Bodyforcesacton
theentirecontrolvolume.Themostcommonbodyforceisthatduetogravity.Electromagneticphenomena
mayalsocreatebodyforces,butthisisaratherspecializedsituation.Thebodyforceduetogravityisthe
component of the acceleration due to gravity in the xdirection (gx) times the mass of the fluid control
volume(densitytimesvolume),or

Surfaceforcesactononlyoneparticularsurfaceofthecontrolvolumeatatime,andariseduetopressureor
viscousstresses.Thestressonasurfaceofthecontrolvolumeactsintheoutwarddirection,andisgiventhe
symbolij,withtwosubscripts.Thefirstsubscriptiindicatesthenormaldirectionofthefaceonwhichthe
stress acts, while the second subscript j indicates the direction of the stress. For example, using the cube
above,thexaxisisthenormaldirectiontothebackyzfaceofthecube,theyaxisisthenormaldirectionto
theleftxzfaceofthecubeandthezaxisisthenormaldirectiontothetopxyfaceofthecube.Also,thex

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axisisthenormaldirectiontothefrontyzfaceofthecube,theyaxisisthenormaldirectiontotherightx
zfaceofthecubeandthezaxisisthenormaldirectiontothebottomxyfaceofthecube.

Theforceduetothestressistheproductofthestressandtheareaoverwhichitacts.Thus,onthefaceswith
normalsinthexdirection(yz),theforcesactinginthexdirectionduetothedirectstressesare

Thesumofthesetwoforcesis

Similarly, on the faces with normals in the ydirection (xz), the forces in the xdirection due to shear
stressessumto

andonthefaceswithnormalsinthezdirection(xy),theforcesinthexdirectionduetoshearstresses
sumto

Thesumofallsurfaceforcesinthexdirectionisthus

The stress xx includes the pressure p (acting inward, and, hence, has a negative sign) and the normal
viscousstressxx.Thestressesyxandzxincludeonlyviscousshearingstressesyxandzx.Thisgivesthe
forceinthexdirectionas:

Newtonian/NonNewtonianFluids
MostfluidsmaybeclassifiedasNewtonianfluids.ANewtonianfluidisoneinwhichtheviscousstressis
linearlyproportionaltotherateofdeformation( du/dy).Theconstantofproportionalityistheviscosity,
.AirwouldbeconsideredalowviscosityNewtonianfluid,whilewaterwouldbeamediumviscosity
Newtonianfluid.MotoroilandMapleSyruparehighviscosityNewtonianfluids.Fluidsthatdonotfollow
theNewtonianbehaviorlawincludetoothpaste,bloodandpaints.ForanincompressibleNewtonianfluid
theviscousstressesare

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Someofthesetermscanbecancelledoutusingthecontinuityequation.Theremainingterms,combined
withthebodyforcetermandputintotheequationfortheforceinthexdirection,give

Thisgives,asthefinalexpressionofthexmomentumequation,

Recallthattherearecorrespondingmomentumequationsintheyandzdirections,namely

and

Thederivationoftheseequationswouldbeagoodexercisefortheviewer.

DerivationoftheEnergyEquation
In situations where the fluid may be treated as incompressible and temperature differences are small, the
continuity and momentum equations are sufficient to specify the velocities and pressure (that is, four
equations[continuity+3momentum]andfourunknownquantities[u,v,wandp]).Iftheflowiscompressible
( is not constant), or if heat flux occurs (temperature not constant), at least one additional equation is
required.Insomeoftheseinstances,theenergyequationmaybeused.Inthederivation,weusethefactthat
workisthedotproductofvelocityandforceandthefactthatworkandenergyarerelatedtoeachother.

The energy equation is, of course, a scalar equation, meaning that it has no particular direction associated
withit.Theprocedureforderivingtheenergyequationissimilartothosepresentedforthecontinuityand
momentumequations.Inthiscase,thechangeinenergyofthefluidwithinthecontrolvolumeisequalto
thenetthermalenergytransferredintothecontrolvolumeplustherateofworkdonebyexternalforces.The
energyofthefluidisexpressedinthiscaseasthesumoftheabsolutethermodynamicinternalenergyper
unitmass,e,andthekineticenergyperunitmass,1/2V2,(Visthemagnitudeofthevelocityvector).The
changeintotalenergyperunitvolumeofthefluidinthecontrolvolumeis

Aswasfoundaboveforthemomentumtransferintoandoutofthecontrolvolume,thenettransferofenergy
perunitvolumethroughthecontrolvolumeis

This equation is obtained by replacing the momentum term (density times velocity) by the energy term
(density times the sum of the internal and kinetic energies). The net thermal energy transferred into the
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controlvolumeisdeterminedbytheheatfluxqi,positiveforheatgoingfromwithinthecontrolvolumeto
the surroundings in the ithdirection (that is, the x,y or zdirection). The total heat per unit volume
transferredintothecontrolvolumeis

Therateofworkperunitvolumebeingdonebythesurfaceforcesisfoundbymultiplyingthestress,ij,by
the velocity in the jdirection for each i face. Similar to the procedure above for the stresses in the
momentumequation,thenetrateofworkbeingdonefromallsidesis

Lastly,therateofworkperunitvolumedonebythegravityforcevector(g=gxi+gyj+gzk),is

Puttingallofthesetermstogether,wehave

Fourier'sHeatConduction

WewillnowuseFourier'sLawofHeatConductionthatrelatestheheatflowintheithdirection,qi,tothe
rateofchangeoftemperatureintheithdirection,namely,

qi=kiA T/ xii=1,2,3representsthex,y,zdirections

wherekiistheheatconductioncoefficientintheithdirection,Arepresentsthesurfaceareaperpendicularto
theithdirection,andTrepresentsthetemperatureoftheflow.FromtheZerothLawofThermodynamics,
heatflowsfromalocationofhighertemperaturetothatofalowertemperature.If,forexample,thisisinthe
xdirection,then T/ xisnegative.Butsinceheatflowisconsideredpositivewhenflowingfromthecontrol
volumetothesurroundings(meaning,inthiscase,inthepositivexdirection),thenforqxtobepositive,we
needtheminussignasindicated.Thustheheatflowrateperunitvolumeterms

become

(kx T/ x)/ x+ (ky T/ y)/ y+ (kz T/ z)/ z

which,inthecaseofconstantheatconductioncoefficient(kx=ky=kz=k),become

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Therateofworkperunitvolumebeingdonebythesurfaceforcesisfoundbymultiplyingthestressijby
thevelocityinthejdirectionforeachiface.Similartotheprocedureaboveforthestressesinthemomentum
equation,thenetrateofworkperunitvolumebeingdonefromallsidesis

UsingtherelationshipbetweensurfacestressesandvelocitygradientsforincompressibleNewtonianfluids,
thisbecomes

Lastly,therateofworkdoneperunitvolumebygravityis

Puttingallofthesetermstogether,wehave

Thisequationdemonstratesthat,perunitvolume,thechangeinenergyofthefluidmovingthroughacontrol
volumeisequaltotherateofheattransferredintothecontrolvolumeplustherateofworkdonebysurface
forces plus the rate of work done by gravity. This expression of the energy equation is valid for most
applications. However, some specialized situations may require additional terms representing the
contributionsofothersources(electromagneticforces,etc.).

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