Flow Visualization studies using Hydraulic

Analogy
Team members:
1. CH. Lakshmi devi (U19AE014)
2. CH. Rakesh (U19AE016)
3. G. Hemanth (U19AE032)
Under the Guidance of:
Dr. N. Rajamurugu (Assistant professor)

Under the Mentorship of:

Dr. S. Elangovan
(Dean of Aeronautical Engineering, professor)

Dept of Aeronautical Engineering

Bharath Institute of Higher Education and
Research

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Introduction

Hydraulic analogy is the analogy between shallow water flow with free surface
and two-dimensional gas flow, it is useful for both qualitative and quantitative
study of compressible flows.
Flow visualization using hydraulic analogy is highly valued because of the fact
that many practical problems in supersonic flows involving shock and expansion
waves, require expensive wind tunnel and instrumentations, may be studied in an
inexpensive manner with simple water table facility.
By equating the flow properties of water and air we can say that, the Froude
number of shallow water flow with a free-surface is equivalent to a gas stream
Mach number.

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Abstract
This report investigates the flow characteristics of both streamlined and bluff bodies using a water
table. The primary objective of the study is to analyze the drag phenomenon, which plays a
crucial role in determining the flow pattern over bluff bodies. The pressure hill height and zone of
influence over bluff bodies were measured at different Reynolds numbers (Re=8977.5, 5848.2,
4334.85, 3847.5) to examine the drag effect. Results show that the hemispherical-faced bluff
body has the lowest pressure hill height at Re=3847.5, and the rearward splitter plate significantly
affects the pressure hill height. Additionally, the hydraulic analogy method was used to study the
flow behavior around semi-wedge aerofoils and missile models with wedge angles of 7° and 23°.
Two different missile models were employed, including a simple nose cone missile and a
deflected missile. The experimental, computational, and theoretical results are validated and
showed good agreement. This study provides essential insights into the flow characteristics of
streamlined and bluff bodies and emphasizes the importance of drag in determining the flow
pattern over bluff bodies

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Literature Survey
SI. Title of the paper Name of the Name of the Inference
No Authors Journal and year
of Published

1 Revival of water table Oleg International The formation of

experiment in fluid Goushcha Journal of Oblique surface waves
mechanics courses Mechanical in a flow around a
Engineering wedge is visualised.
Education, 2019

2 Revival of water table Oleg International Theoretical

experiments in fluid Goushcha Journal of considerations of this
mechanics courses, part I Mechanical hydraulic analogy is
Engineering disscussed.
Education, 2019
3 Front Body Effects on Drag Khalid, S. M., AIAA Journal, The D-shaped front
and Flow field of a Three- and 1993 body was less effective
Dimensional Noncircular Rathakrishnan in
Cylinder E reducing the drag
compared with the
square-plate front
body.

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

SI. Title of the paper Name of the Name of the Inference
No Authors Journal and
year of
Published

4 Effect of splitter plate Rathakrishnan E AIAA Journal Bluff bodies with splitter
on bluff body drag and 1999 plates are used to study the
effect of splitter plate in
reducing the drag.

5 Flow field with Shashank k, Modern The hemispherical nosed

Reynolds number Kojiro S, Physics Letter spike is a potential candidate
variance around a Rathakrishnan E B 2016 from the point of view of
spiked body pressure reduction, compared
to the conical and flat nosed
spikes together

6 Aerodynamic Analysis Prasad S P, Ajay V, IOP Flow properties over double

Over Double Wedge Rajat R H Conference wedge airfoil are studied.
Airfoil. Series 2017

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Summary of Literature Survey
 The hydraulic analogy is also used to study the flow around airfols and nozzles.
 MATLAB program used to measure the angles of the oblique shock. Higher Froude
number, the experimental results had a good agreement with theoretical predictions,
with error of less than 10%.
 In experiments conducted using a water channel, visualization of the flow is easier
than in a wind tunnel due to the higher viscosity of water. This property of water
enables researchers to observe the behavior of the flow more easily and accurately.
 Furthermore, various techniques for flow visualization can be utilized in a water
tunnel, which allows researchers to analyze and understand complex fluid dynamics
phenomena more effectively.

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Research Gap
 Many researchers do not have a compact and extremely precise laboratory set up to
show the hydraulic analogy concept.
 Although a few research conducted hydraulic analogy experiments, the details of
experiment setup and governing equations were not adequately addressed.
 Computational results have not been validated with the experimental results.

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Objective

 To visualize flow around supersonic airfoils and bluff bodies of various geometries
and quantify based on hydraulic analogy.
 To study the effect of Froude number and reynolds number on the flow
characteristics.
 To computationally study the flow field around the bodies and validate with
experimental results.

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Methodology
Literature survey

Design setup

Fabrication

Experimentation

Quantification by
image processing

Validation with
experimental,
computational
and theoretical
results

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Experimental setup

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

3D sketch of water table

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

 Water Table

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Application of Water Table

The water table is an inexpensive tool for investigating fluid characteristics for
various applications. It has two main applications:
 Flow visualiszation for drag investigation over bluff bodies.
 Hydraulic analogy for investigating complex shapes in supersonic speed.

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Theoretical calculations of velocity

SI.NO TIME DEPTH DISTANCE VELOCITY

(sec) (mm) (m) (m/sec)

1 1.5 2 0.52 0.375

2 2.3 3 0.52 0.228

3 3.1 5 0.52 0.169

4 4 5 0.52 0.131

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Reynolds number calculation

V=0.375m/s

V=0.228m/s

V= 0.169m/s

V=0.131m/s

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Dimensions of bluff bodies

Rectangular bluff body Hemi-Spherical faced bluff body

L=9mm, 12mm, 25mm, 50mm L=9mm, 12mm, 25mm, 50mm

H=25mm (constant for all lengths) D=25mm(constant for all lengths)
W=25mm (constant for all lengths) W=25mm (constant for all lengths)

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Pictorial diagram of flow field around square and hemi-spherical faced
bluff body

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Flow around hemi-spherical and rectangular faced bluff bodies

HEMI SPHERICAL FACED BLUFF RECTANGULAR FACED BLUFF

BODY BODY

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

The change in H/W with L/W at various Reynolds numbers over
rectangular bluff body.

 The pressure hill has an oscillatory character with L/W from 0.1 to around 1 for all
Reynolds numbers.

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

The change in Z/H with L/W at various Reynolds numbers over
rectangular bluff body.

 The Z/H shows an oscillatory nature up to L/W=1. Zone of influence is strongly

influenced by L/W up to 0.5 and at all Reynolds number.

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

The change in Z/W with L/W at various Reynolds number over rectangular
bluff body.

 At all Reynolds numbers, Z/W shows an oscillatory nature up to L/W=1. For L/W
greater than 1, Z/W is independent of the length of the model.

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

The change in H/W with Reynolds numbers at various L/W over
rectangular bluff body.

 The pressure hill gradually increased with Reynolds number up to 6000 and it also
strongly influenced by length of the model.

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

The change in Z/W with Reynolds number over rectangular bluff
body.

 Z/W showed oscillatory nature up to 6000. It is observed that Zone of influence is

independent of Reynolds number from 6000 to 9000.

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

The variation of H/D with L/D at various Reynolds numbers over
hemispherical models

 The pressure hill height is highly influenced by length of the model up to L/W=0.5.
Pressure hill height at L/W greater than 0.5 is independent of length of the model

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

The variation in Z/H with L/D at various Reynolds numbers over
hemispherical models

 The Z/H is highly influenced by length of the model up to L/D=0.5. Z/H at L/D
greater than 0.5 is independent of length of the model.

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

The variation in Z/D with L/D at various Reynolds numbers over
hemispherical models

 The Z/D is highly influenced by length of the model up to L/D=0.5. Zone of

influence at L/D greater than 0.5 is independent of length of the model

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

The variation in H/D with Reynolds numbers at various l/d over
hemispherical models

 The pressure hill height reduced for smaller length of the model.

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

The variation in Z/D with Reynolds numbers at various l/d over
hemispherical models

 The zone of influence is influenced by Re up to 4500. Reynolds number

greater than 4500, the Z/D is independent of Reynolds number.

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Effect of pressure hill height and zone of influence on hemi-spherical
and rectangular bluff bodies

A flow visualization experiment has been carried out using an inexpensive water
table.
 To study the importance of pressure hill and zone of influence for rectangular
bodies with square face and hemispherical face of different lengths, over a
Reynolds number of range 8977.5 to 3847.5.
The pressure hill height for rectangular faced blunt body is more when compared
to hemispherical faced blunt body.
So, it is evident that hemispherical faced blunt bodies are effective in reducing
drag when compared to rectangular blunt bodies.

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Pictorial diagram of flow field around a bluff body with backward
splitter plate

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Flow around bluff body with splitter plate

SPLITTER PLATE BEHIND THE BLUFF BODY

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

The change in H/W with L/W at various Re over bluff body with backward
splitter plate.

 The pressure hill height is less at L/W=6 for all Reynolds number

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

The change in H/W with Re at various L/W over bluff body with
backward splitter plate.

 The zone of influence increased from Reynolds number 4000 to 9000

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

The change in H/W with Re at various L/W over bluff body with backward
splitter plate.

 The pressure hill height gradually increased from 4000 to 9000 for all L/W
ratios
U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER
Effect of pressure hill height and zone of influence on hemi-
spherical and rectangular bluff bodies

It is shown that the hydraulic analogy method is a less expensive method that can
be used for flow visualization around different airfoils.
It is found that, increase in Reynolds number increases the pressure hill height for
both forward and backward splitter plate.
In backward splitter plate, Splitter plate length didnt show much influence on
pressure hill height. It is found that for splitter plate length 1.875 (50% of model
length) pressure hill height reduced when compared to other lengths.

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Relationship between froude Number and Mach number

 The Froude number and Mach number are both dimensionless parameters used
to describe fluid flow characteristics. While the Froude number relates to
open-channel flow, the Mach number relates to compressible flow, such as in
aerodynamics.
 It is possible to establish a relationship between the Froude number and the
Mach number by equating the properties of fluid flow in water and air.
Specifically, for a shallow water flow with a free surface, the Froude number
is equivalent to the Mach number in a gas stream. The fluid properties of
water and air are similar in certain aspects, mainly in the case of free surface
flows and compressible flows.

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Froude number calculation

(dimension less number)

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering,

BIHER
− 𝑴 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏
λ=

X=

tanβ =

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

WAVE PATTERN AROUND SEMI-WEDGE AIRFOIL OF WEDGE ANGLE 7

L=50mm

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Comparision of computational and image processiong results semi wedge with
wedge angle 23 degrees at mach number 2

COMPUTATIONAL RESULTS IMAGE PROCESSING RESULTS

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Comparision of computational and image processiong results semi wedge
with wedge angle 23 degrees at mach number 2

COMPUTATIONAL RESULTS IMAGE PROCESSING RESULTS

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Dimensions of missile models

Simple nose cone missile

Deflection angle = 0°
Cone angle = 11.315

Deflected nose cone missile

Deflection angle = 8°
Leeward direction = 18.315
Windward direction = 4.315

All dimensions are in mm

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Comparision of computational and image processiong results of simple nose cone
missile model at mach number 2

COMPUTATIONAL RESULTS IMAGE PROCESSING RESULTS

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Comparision of computational and image processiong results of deflected nose
cone missile model at mach number 2

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS IMAGE PROCESSING RESULTS

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Experimental results of semi wedge airfoil with wedge angle 7deg at mach
number2

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS IMAGE PROCESSING RESULTS

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Experimental results semi wedge airfoil with wedge angle 23deg at mach
number2

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS IMAGE PROCESSING RESULTS

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Experimental results of simple nose cone missile model at mach number 2

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS IMAGE PROCESSING RESULTS

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Experimental results deflected nose cone missile model at mach number 2

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS IMAGE PROCESSING RESULTS

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Shock wave angle measurement of semi wedge airfoil with wedge angle 7deg

α
β

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Shock wave formation and shock wave angle around semi wedge airfoil of
wedge angle 23 at mach number 2

α
β

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Shock wave formation and shock wave angle around simple nose cone missile
model with mach number 2

α
β

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Shock wave formation and shock wave angle around deflected nose cone missile
model with mach number 2

α α
β β

LEEWARD SIDE WINDWARD SIDE

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Shock wave angle comparision of theoretical and experimenta values

Angle of Wedge/cone Theoretical Experimental

attack angle results results

0° 7° 36° 34° 5%
0° 23° 34° 36.14° 5%
0° 11.315° 36° 5%
0° 8° 45.3°, 33 5%

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Conclusion

 Flow visualization experiments were conducted to observe the flow around semi-wedge
airfoils with wedge angles of 7 ͦͦ and 23 ͦͦ degrees and simple nose cone and deflected
missile models.
 The shock wave angles obtained experimentally was validated using theoretical and
computational data.
 Based on the studies described above, it can be concluded that the hydraulic analogy
method is a cost-effective approach for visualizing flow around different airfoils and
bluff bodies.
 This method is simpler and more affordable compared to wind tunnel setups for
visualizing flow properties around different models.

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

References
1. Oleg G, Revival of water table experiment in fluid mechanics courses part 2. International Journal
of Mechanical Engineering Education 2019; 0(0): 1-13.
2. Oleg G, Revival of water table experiment in fluid mechanics courses part I. International Journal
of Mechanical Engineering Education 2019; 0(0): 1-10.
3. Khalid, S. M., and Rathakrishnan E., “Front Body Effects on Drag and Flow field of a Three-
Dimensional Noncircular Cylinder,” AIAA Journal, Vol. 31, No. 7, 1993, pp. 1345–1347.
4. Rathakrishnan E, “Effect of splitter plate on bluff body drag”, AIAA Journal, Vol. 37, No. 9
(1999), pp. 1125–1126.
5. Shashank K, Kojiro S, Rathakrishnan E, Flow field behavior with Reynolds number variance
around a spiked body. World scientific 2016; 1-13.
6. Prasad S P, Ajay V, Rajat R H, Samany, Aerodynamic Analysis Over Double Wedge Airfoil. IOP
Conference Series 2017; 197: 1-7.
7. Yasumasa W, Kojiro S and Rathakrishnan E, “Pressure Hill and Zone of Influence over Flat-faced
bluff bodies”, Int. J. Turbo Jet-Engines, Vol. 28 (2011), pp. 329-333.

U18PRAE8P1/Project Phase-II work, Department of Aeronautical Engineering, BIHER

Thank you