ME 6601 Introduction to Fluid Mechanics

Fall 2017 Prof. Devesh Ranjan

Homework 1
Due Date: September 26th, 2017 @ 4PM EST

Problem 1: Prove the vector identity: ⃗∇ × (∇

⃗ × 𝐴) = −∇2 𝐴 + ⃗∇(∇
⃗ ∙ 𝐴).

Problem 2: Verify Stokes’ theorem for 𝑢 ⃗ = (2𝑥 − 𝑦)𝑖̂ − 𝑦𝑧 2 𝑗̂ − 𝑦 2 𝑧𝑘̂, where 𝐴 is the upper half
surface of the sphere 𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 + 𝑧 2 = 1, and 𝐶 is its boundary.

Problem 3: Consider a steady, two-dimensional, incompressible flow whose velocity is given by

𝑈𝑥 𝑈𝑦
𝑢
⃗ = 𝑖̂ + 𝑗̂, where 𝑈 and 𝐻 are characteristic velocity and length scales, respectively.
𝐻 𝐻
Determine the acceleration vector, 𝑎.

4𝑈
Problem 4: For flow near the stagnation point of a cylinder, the velocity is 𝑢 ⃗ = ( ) (𝑥𝑖̂ − 𝑦𝑗̂),
𝐷
where 𝐷 is the cylinder’s diameter and U is the speed of the incident flow. Determine the
Lagrangian description of the fluid-particle position vector 𝑟 = 𝑥𝑖̂ + 𝑦𝑗̂, in terms of 𝑈, 𝐷, 𝑡, and
the initial values of the coordinates 𝑥0 , and 𝑦0 .

𝑘
Problem 5: Verify that the circulation, Γ = ∮ 𝑢
⃗ ∙ 𝑑𝑠, of a potential vortex, for which 𝑢
⃗ = 𝑒̂𝜃 , is
𝑟
2𝜋𝑘 for the rectangular contour shown below.
Problem 6:
Prove the following relation using index notation:
1
⃗ × (∇
𝑉 ⃗ ×𝑉
⃗ ) = ⃗∇(V
⃗ ∙𝑉
⃗ ) − (V
⃗ ∙ ⃗∇)V
⃗
2

Problem 7:
Using your result from Problem 6, take the curl of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equation:
⃗
𝜕𝑉 1
⃗∇ × { ⃗ ∙ ⃗∇)V
+ (V ⃗}=∇
⃗ × {− ⃗∇𝑝 + 𝜈∇2 ⃗V}
𝜕𝑡 𝜌
⃗⃗⃗
𝐷𝜔
Your answer will be the incompressible vorticity equation: = (𝜔 ⃗ )V
⃗ ∙∇ ⃗ + 𝜈∇2 𝜔
⃗.
𝐷𝑡

[ HINT: Take the curl of each term then assemble the terms to get the final form of the vorticity
equation]

Problem 8:
The velocity components for Hill’s spherical vortex are:
𝑟𝑧 𝑧 2 𝑟 2
𝑢𝑟 = 𝑈 , 𝑢𝜃 = 0, 𝑢𝑧 = 𝑈 [1 − ( ) − 2 ( ) ]
𝑅2 𝑅 𝑅

Where U and R are constant velocity and length scales, respectively. Compute the vorticity
vector and the strain-rate tensor.