Lecturer: Dr.

HF Duan

Additional Reading Materials for Lecture 06

(for Fluid Mechanics: CSE10252 & CSE20202)

Euler’s equation of motion

We know that shear stress develops in a moving fluid because of the viscosity of the
fluid. We also know that for some fluids the viscosity is small so that it seems to be
reasonable to assume that under certain circumstances the effects of viscosity can be
neglected. Flow fields in which the shearing stresses are assumed to be negligible are
said to be inviscid, ideal or frictionless.
Euler’s equation of motion has the form

u   1
 (u  )u   ( p  h) (1)
t 

where u  (u, v, w) is the velocity vector, p is the pressure and
   
u   u  v  w (2)
x y z
In addition, ideal fluid satisfies continuity equation

u  0 (3)
These equations have to be solved together with the boundary conditions that the
velocity component normal to a solid wall be zero.

Euler equations do not include any effects due to viscosity but they still have many
important applications (flows around bodies, computation of lift forces and drag
forces).

Using (1) and (2) we can rewrite Euler equations in the component form

u u u u 1 
u v w  ( p  h) (4)
t x y z  x

v v v v 1 
u v w   ( p  h) (5)
t x y z  y

w w w w 1 
u v w  ( p  h) (6)
t x y z  z

The first term on the left-hand side is the local or temporal acceleration while the
remaining three terms on the left-hand side are referred to as inertial-acceleration
terms (these terms depend on the changes of velocity with respect to spatial
coordinates).

Euler’s equations for two-dimensional flow


If the velocity field is two-dimensional, that is, u  (u, v) , then the equations for two-

dimensional flow are obtained from (4) and (5) assuming that w  0 and  0.
z
Thus,
 Lecturer: Dr. HF Duan

u u u 1 
u v  ( p  h) (7)
t x y  x

v v v 1 
u v  ( p  h) (8)
t x y  x

It is instructive to rewrite equations (7) and (8) in terms of the coordinates s and n ,
where the x -axis, called the s -axis, is taken to be parallel to the velocity vector at a
point and the y -axis, called the n -axis, is perpendicular to the velocity vector at the
same point and is directed toward the center of curvature of the streamline.

s
A

v n


r vs

s

We denote the velocity components, u and v as follows

u  v s and v  vn Note that vn  0 at A because the velocity vector at A is tangent to
the streamline. However, in unsteady flow fluid particles can move from one
streamline to another, therefore the rate of change of v n with respect to s is not zero.
Taking these comments into account, we obtain the following two equations from (7)
and (8)
1  v v
 ( p  h)  s  v s s (9)
 s t s

1  v v
 ( p  h)  n  v s n (10)
 n t s

Consider a small change in the velocity along the streamline, when the s -coordinate
changes from s to s  s . Then the component v n changes from 0 to v n . If r is the
radius of curvature of the streamline at A , then from similar triangles we obtain
s v n v n v s
 or 
r vs s r
Substituting the last expression into (10) we obtain

1  v v2
 ( p  h)  n  s
 n t r
 Lecturer: Dr. HF Duan

For steady flow of an incompressible fluid we obtain

1    v2 
 ( p  h)   s  (11)
 s s  2 
and
1  v s2
 ( p  h)  (12)
 n r

Equation (12) shows that pressure head varies across streamlines. Equations (11) and
(12) can e used to derive useful relationships for steady flows.

Example. As an example, we consider a container of fluid. Suppose that the container

is rotated with constant angular velocity  about a vertical axis as a solid. Determine
the pressure variation in the fluid.

Solution. We use equation (12). Note that n is the radial distance measured towards
the centre of curvature. Hence, r  n and dn  dr . Moreover, v s  r . Then
equation (12) becomes

1   2r 2
( p  h)  (13)
 r r

Integrating (13) with respect to r we obtain

1  2r 2
( p  h)  C,
 2
where C is an arbitrary constant. Assuming that p  p0 if r  0 and h  0 , we
evaluate the constant and the pressure distribution becomes
 2r 2
p  p0  h   (14)
2
Note that formula (14) has been obtained in Chapter 2 (Section 2.9).
This example gives us an idea how to derive solutions of fluid mechanics problems.
One can use the system of equations and corresponding boundary conditions in order
to derive the solutions.

Vorticity and irrotational flow

Consider a rectangular element of fluid, shown in the figure below. Possible types of
deformation of the fluid element as it moves to another position during a short time
interval t are also illustrated on the figure.
 Lecturer: Dr. HF Duan

Translation

Linear deformation

Rotation

Angular deformation

In general, the velocity variation in the flow field is quite complex, therefore all the
deformations shown above occur simultaneously. However, we can consider each one
separately. In this section we shall discuss angular motion and deformation.

u
(u  dy )dt C’
v y
v dy
y 

udt
 B’
u
u dy
C y A’
v
v dx v
v dy x (v  dx)dt
x
vdt

B u
A u u dx
dx x

Consider motion in the ( x, y) -plane. Assume that at time t we have selected three
points in a fluid so that (for convenience) they make an angle of 900. In a short time
interval dt these points will have moved to A' , B' and C ' , respectively. Assume that
the velocity components at point A at time t were u and v . The velocity components
at time t at the other two points are shown in the figure and are obtained by Taylor
 Lecturer: Dr. HF Duan

formula. Note that line AB (which was horizontal at time t ) is rotated by the angle
 where
(v / x)dxdt v
  tan    dt
dx[1  (u / x)dt ] x

The angular velocity of line AB ,  AB , is

v
 AB 
x
A line connecting the fluid particles initially at A and C has rotated an amount
(u / y)dydt u
  tan    dt
d [1  (v / y)dt ] y
Similarly, the angular velocity of line AC ,  AC , is
u
 AC 
y
The rotation,  z , of the element about the z axis is defined as the average of the
angular velocities  AB and  AC . Thus, if counterclockwise rotation is considered to
be positive, we obtain
1  v u 
 z    
2  x y 
Rotation of the fluid element about the other two coordinate axes can be obtained in a
similar manner. Finally, for rotation about the x axis we have
1  w v 
 x    
2  y z 
Similarly, for rotation about the y axis we obtain
1  u w 
y    
2  z x 
The three components,  x ,  y and  z can be combined in the form of the rotation
vector

  ( x ,  y ,  z )

The vector  is one-half the curl of the velocity vector. Indeed,
   w v   u v    v u  
curlv    v    i     j    k
 y z   z x   x y 
Thus,
 1 
  curlv
2

The vorticity,  , is defined as a vector that is twice the rotation vector, that is
  
  2    v
Flows with vorticity are said to be rotational flows; flows without vorticity are said to
be irrotational flows.
The concept of irrotationality seems to be a rather strange condition imposed on a
flow field. Why would a flow field be irrotational? Let us examine the condition

  0 in detail. As can be seen from the formulas for the components of the rotation
vector, the flow is irrotational if
 Lecturer: Dr. HF Duan

w v u v v u
 ,  ,  (1)
y z z x x y
A general velocity field would not satisfy conditions (1). However, conditions (1) are
satisfied for a uniform flow of the form
u  U , v  0, w  0 ,
where U  const. Therefore, a uniform flow field is an example of an irrotational
flow.
Many important problems include uniform flow in some part of the flow field. Two
examples are the flow past a body and the flow in the entrance region of a pipe.
Let us now discuss what conclusions can be drawn from the assumptions of inviscid
and irrotational flow. There are no shear stresses in an inviscid fluid, therefore, the
only forces acting on a fluid element are pressure forces and weight of the element.
Since the weight acts through the centre of gravity of the element and the pressure
forces act in the direction normal to the surface of the element, neither of these forces
can cause the element to rotate. This means that if the fluid is inviscid and some part
of the flow field is irrotational, the fluid particles emanating from this region will not
rotate as they move through the flow field.
For an irrotational flow the velocity components satisfy (1). It follows that in this case
the velocity components can be expressed in terms of a scalar function  ( x, y, z, t ) .
The function  is defined as follows
  
u , v , w (2)
x y z
The minus sign is arbitrary, it is a convention that causes the value of  to decrease in
the direction of the flow. The function  is called the velocity potential. Direct
substitution of (2) into (1) shows that a velocity field defined by (2) is irrotational. In
vector form equations (2) can be written as follows

v   (3)
For an incompressible fluid we know that

v  0 (4)
Using (3) and (4) we obtain

  v      2  0
Hence, the velocity potential satisfies the Laplace equation
 2  0 (5)

The stream function

Consider a steady incompressible plane two-dimensional flow. The continuity

equation in this case has the form
u v
 0 (1)
x y
Equation (1) suggests that if we introduce a function  ( x, y) , called the stream
function, which is related to the velocity components by the formulas
 
u , v ,
y x
then the continuity equation (1) will be automatically satisfied. Indeed,
 Lecturer: Dr. HF Duan

         2  2
      0
x  y  y  x  xy yx
Thus, we know that the conservation of mass will be satisfied if the velocity
components are defined in terms of the stream function.
Let us show now that lines along which the stream function  is constant are
streamlines. We know that streamlines are lines in the flow filed that are tangent to
the velocity vector at any point of the flow.

v  y
v

u
x

It follows from the definition of the streamline that at any point along a streamline
dy v

dx u
The change in the value of  if we move from the point ( x, y) to the point
( x  dx, y  dy) is
 
d  dx  dy  vdx  udy
x y
Along a line of constant  we have d  0 so that  vdx  udy  0 and
dy v

dx u
This equation defines a streamline (as we have already seen). Note that plotting the
family of lines   C , where C is a constant, helps to visualize the flow pattern.
Particular values of  are not so important since the characteristics of the flow are
determined by the derivatives of  with respect to x and y . However, the flow rate is
related to the change of the value of  as the next example shows.
Consider two streamlines located very close to one another. The lower streamline is
denoted by  and the upper by   d . Let dq be the flow rate (per unit width
perpendicular to the ( x, y) -plane) in the region between the streamlines. Note that the
flow never crosses the streamlines (why?).

C
dq

y   d
udy
A B

 vdx 
x
 Lecturer: Dr. HF Duan

Using the continuity equation we conclude that the inflow dq into control volume
ABC must be equal to the outflow from the control volume. Thus,
dq  udy  vdx
In terms of the stream function the last relation can be written as follows
 
dq  dy  dx
y x
The right-hand side of this equation is d so that
dq  d
Integrating this expression we obtain that the flow rate between two streamlines is
given by
2
q   d   2   1
1

Stream functions and potentials

Consider a stream function  defined by

 
u , v
y x
Assume that the flow is irrotational. Then
u v

y x
and in terms of the stream function
       
    
y  y  x  x 
or
 2  2
 0
x 2 y 2
Thus, for two-dimensional plane irrotational flow both the velocity potential and the
stream function satisfy the Laplace equation. Therefore, the velocity potential and the
stream function are related.
We have seen previously that along lines of constant  one has
dy v
| const  (2)
dx u
Similarly, one can calculate the change in  from a point ( x, y) to a point
( x  dx, y  dy) . The change, d , is
 
d  dx  dy  udx  vdy
x y
Along a line   const we have d  0 so that
dy u
| const   (3)
dx v
Note that if two lines in the ( x, y) -plane are perpendicular, their slopes, k1 and k 2 ,
satisfy the relation k1k 2  1 . Comparing (2) and (3) we see that lines of constant
 Lecturer: Dr. HF Duan

 (called equipotential lines) are orthogonal to lines of constant  (streamlines) at all

points where they intersect. This property is widely used in order to visualize the
distributions of stream function and velocity potential in an inviscid irrorational flow.
A family of streamlines and equipotential lines form a flow net.

  C1  C   C1  2C
  C1   C  2C
n   C  C

 C

s
A

Note that the value C for both sets of curves is usually the same. The velocity
components u s and v s at A can be estimated as follows
 (C  2C )  (C  C ) C
us    
s s s
and
 (C1  C )  C1 C
vs   
n n n
The flow net is useful in visualizing flow patterns and can be used to obtain graphical
solutions of the differential equations describing groundwater flow.

Example 1. The velocity potential for a given two-dimensional flow field is

5
  x 3  5 xy 2 . Show that the continuity equation is satisfied and determine the
3
corresponding stream function.
 
Solution. We have u    5 x 2  5 y 2 , v    10 xy .
x y
The continuity equation is
u v
  0   10 x  0  10x  0
x y
Thus, the continuity equation is satisfied.
The stream function is related to the velocity components as follows
 
u , v
y x

Hence, we have  5 x 2  5 y 2 . Integrating this expression with respect to y and
y
assuming that x is constant, we obtain
5
   (5x 2  5 y 2 )dy  5x 2 y  y 3  a( x),
3
 Lecturer: Dr. HF Duan

where a(x) is a function of x . In order to find a(x) we differentiate the last


expression with respect to x and use the relation v   . Thus,
x
 da  da
10 xy    10 xy   which shows that  0 , that is, a  const.
 dx  dx
Therefore, the stream function is
5
 ( x, y)  5 x 2 y  y 3  const
3