Fluid dynamics. In physics, physical chemistry and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids – liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including  (the study of air and other gases in motion) and  (the study of water and other liquids in motion). Fluid dynamics has a wide range of applications, including calculating forces and moments on aircraft, determining the mass flow rate of petroleum through pipelines, predicting weather patterns, understanding nebulae in interstellar space and modelling fission weapon detonation.

Fluid dynamics offers a systematic structure—which underlies these practical disciplines—that embraces empirical and semi-empirical laws derived from flow measurement and used to solve practical problems. The solution to a fluid dynamics problem typically involves the calculation of various properties of the fluid, such as flow velocity, pressure, density, and temperature, as functions of space and time.

Before the twentieth century, "hydrodynamics" was synonymous with fluid dynamics. This is still reflected in names of some fluid dynamics topics, like magnetohydrodynamics and hydrodynamic stability, both of which can also be applied to gases.

Equations

The foundational axioms of fluid dynamics are the conservation laws, specifically, conservation of mass, conservation of linear momentum, and conservation of energy (also known as the first law of thermodynamics). These are based on classical mechanics and are modified in quantum mechanics and general relativity. They are expressed using the Reynolds transport theorem.

In addition to the above, fluids are assumed to obey the continuum assumption. At small scale, all fluids are composed of molecules that collide with one another and solid objects. However, the continuum assumption assumes that fluids are continuous, rather than discrete. Consequently, it is assumed that properties such as density, pressure, temperature, and flow velocity are well-defined at infinitesimally small points in space and vary continuously from one point to another. The fact that the fluid is made up of discrete molecules is ignored.

For fluids that are sufficiently dense to be a continuum, do not contain ionized species, and have flow velocities that are small in relation to the speed of light, the momentum equations for Newtonian fluids are the Navier–Stokes equations—which is a non-linear set of differential equations that describes the flow of a fluid whose stress depends linearly on flow velocity gradients and pressure. The unsimplified equations do not have a general closed-form solution, so they are primarily of use in computational fluid dynamics. The equations can be simplified in several ways, all of which make them easier to solve. Some of the simplifications allow some simple fluid dynamics problems to be solved in closed form.

In addition to the mass, momentum, and energy conservation equations, a thermodynamic equation of state that gives the pressure as a function of other thermodynamic variables is required to completely describe the problem. An example of this would be the perfect gas equation of state:

where  is pressure,  is density, and  is the absolute temperature, while  is the gas constant and  is molar mass for a particular gas. A constitutive relation may also be useful.

Conservation laws
Three conservation laws are used to solve fluid dynamics problems, and may be written in integral or differential form. The conservation laws may be applied to a region of the flow called a control volume. A control volume is a discrete volume in space through which fluid is assumed to flow. The integral formulations of the conservation laws are used to describe the change of mass, momentum, or energy within the control volume. Differential formulations of the conservation laws apply Stokes' theorem to yield an expression that may be interpreted as the integral form of the law applied to an infinitesimally small volume (at a point) within the flow.

Classifications

Compressible versus incompressible flow
All fluids are compressible to an extent; that is, changes in pressure or temperature cause changes in density. However, in many situations the changes in pressure and temperature are sufficiently small that the changes in density are negligible. In this case the flow can be modelled as an incompressible flow. Otherwise the more general compressible flow equations must be used.

Mathematically, incompressibility is expressed by saying that the density  of a fluid parcel does not change as it moves in the flow field, that is,

where  is the material derivative, which is the sum of local and convective derivatives. This additional constraint simplifies the governing equations, especially in the case when the fluid has a uniform density.

For flow of gases, to determine whether to use compressible or incompressible fluid dynamics, the Mach number of the flow is evaluated. As a rough guide, compressible effects can be ignored at Mach numbers below approximately 0.3. For liquids, whether the incompressible assumption is valid depends on the fluid properties (specifically the critical pressure and temperature of the fluid) and the flow conditions (how close to the critical pressure the actual flow pressure becomes). Acoustic problems always require allowing compressibility, since sound waves are compression waves involving changes in pressure and density of the medium through which they propagate.

Newtonian versus non-Newtonian fluids

All fluids, except superfluids, are viscous, meaning that they exert some resistance to deformation: neighbouring parcels of fluid moving at different velocities exert viscous forces on each other. The velocity gradient is referred to as a strain rate; it has dimensions . Isaac Newton showed that for many familiar fluids such as water and air, the stress due to these viscous forces is linearly related to the strain rate. Such fluids are called Newtonian fluids. The coefficient of proportionality is called the fluid's viscosity; for Newtonian fluids, it is a fluid property that is independent of the strain rate.

Non-Newtonian fluids have a more complicated, non-linear stress-strain behaviour. The sub-discipline of rheology describes the stress-strain behaviours of such fluids, which include emulsions and slurries, some viscoelastic materials such as blood and some polymers, and sticky liquids such as latex, honey and lubricants.

Inviscid versus viscous versus Stokes flow

The dynamic of fluid parcels is described with the help of Newton's second law. An accelerating parcel of fluid is subject to inertial effects.

The Reynolds number is a dimensionless quantity which characterises the magnitude of inertial effects compared to the magnitude of viscous effects. A low Reynolds number () indicates that viscous forces are very strong compared to inertial forces. In such cases, inertial forces are sometimes neglected; this flow regime is called Stokes or creeping flow.

In contrast, high Reynolds numbers () indicate that the inertial effects have more effect on the velocity field than the viscous (friction) effects. In high Reynolds number flows, the flow is often modeled as an inviscid flow, an approximation in which viscosity is completely neglected. Eliminating viscosity allows the Navier–Stokes equations to be simplified into the Euler equations. The integration of the Euler equations along a streamline in an inviscid flow yields Bernoulli's equation. When, in addition to being inviscid, the flow is irrotational everywhere, Bernoulli's equation can completely describe the flow everywhere. Such flows are called potential flows, because the velocity field may be expressed as the gradient of a potential energy expression.

This idea can work fairly well when the Reynolds number is high. However, problems such as those involving solid boundaries may require that the viscosity be included. Viscosity cannot be neglected near solid boundaries because the no-slip condition generates a thin region of large strain rate, the boundary layer, in which viscosity effects dominate and which thus generates vorticity. Therefore, to calculate net forces on bodies (such as wings), viscous flow equations must be used: inviscid flow theory fails to predict drag forces, a limitation known as the d'Alembert's paradox.

A commonly used model, especially in computational fluid dynamics, is to use two flow models: the Euler equations away from the body, and boundary layer equations in a region close to the body. The two solutions can then be matched with each other, using the method of matched asymptotic expansions.

Steady versus unsteady flow

A flow that is not a function of time is called steady flow. Steady-state flow refers to the condition where the fluid properties at a point in the system do not change over time. Time dependent flow is known as unsteady (also called transient). Whether a particular flow is steady or unsteady, can depend on the chosen frame of reference. For instance, laminar flow over a sphere is steady in the frame of reference that is stationary with respect to the sphere. In a frame of reference that is stationary with respect to a background flow, the flow is unsteady.

Turbulent flows are unsteady by definition. A turbulent flow can, however, be statistically stationary. The random velocity field  is statistically stationary if all statistics are invariant under a shift in time. This roughly means that all statistical properties are constant in time. Often, the mean field is the object of interest, and this is constant too in a statistically stationary flow.

Steady flows are often more tractable than otherwise similar unsteady flows. The governing equations of a steady problem have one dimension fewer (time) than the governing equations of the same problem without taking advantage of the steadiness of the flow field.

Laminar versus turbulent flow

Turbulence is flow characterized by recirculation, eddies, and apparent randomness. Flow in which turbulence is not exhibited is called laminar. The presence of eddies or recirculation alone does not necessarily indicate turbulent flow—these phenomena may be present in laminar flow as well. Mathematically, turbulent flow is often represented via a Reynolds decomposition, in which the flow is broken down into the sum of an average component and a perturbation component.

It is believed that turbulent flows can be described well through the use of the Navier–Stokes equations. Direct numerical simulation (DNS), based on the Navier–Stokes equations, makes it possible to simulate turbulent flows at moderate Reynolds numbers. Restrictions depend on the power of the computer used and the efficiency of the solution algorithm. The results of DNS have been found to agree well with experimental data for some flows.

Most flows of interest have Reynolds numbers much too high for DNS to be a viable option, given the state of computational power for the next few decades. Any flight vehicle large enough to carry a human ( > 3 m), moving faster than  is well beyond the limit of DNS simulation ( = 4 million). Transport aircraft wings (such as on an Airbus A300 or Boeing 747) have Reynolds numbers of 40 million (based on the wing chord dimension). Solving these real-life flow problems requires turbulence models for the foreseeable future. Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations (RANS) combined with turbulence modelling provides a model of the effects of the turbulent flow. Such a modelling mainly provides the additional momentum transfer by the Reynolds stresses, although the turbulence also enhances the heat and mass transfer. Another promising methodology is large eddy simulation (LES), especially in the form of detached eddy simulation (DES) — a combination of LES and RANS turbulence modelling.

Other approximations
There are a large number of other possible approximations to fluid dynamic problems. Some of the more commonly used are listed below.
 The Boussinesq approximation neglects variations in density except to calculate buoyancy forces. It is often used in free convection problems where density changes are small.
 Lubrication theory and Hele–Shaw flow exploits the large aspect ratio of the domain to show that certain terms in the equations are small and so can be neglected.
 Slender-body theory is a methodology used in Stokes flow problems to estimate the force on, or flow field around, a long slender object in a viscous fluid.
 The shallow-water equations can be used to describe a layer of relatively inviscid fluid with a free surface, in which surface gradients are small.
 Darcy's law is used for flow in porous media, and works with variables averaged over several pore-widths.
 In rotating systems, the quasi-geostrophic equations assume an almost perfect balance between pressure gradients and the Coriolis force. It is useful in the study of atmospheric dynamics.

Multidisciplinary types

Flows according to Mach regimes

While many flows (such as flow of water through a pipe) occur at low Mach numbers (subsonic flows), many flows of practical interest in aerodynamics or in turbomachines occur at high fractions of  (transonic flows) or in excess of it (supersonic or even hypersonic flows). New phenomena occur at these regimes such as instabilities in transonic flow, shock waves for supersonic flow, or non-equilibrium chemical behaviour due to ionization in hypersonic flows. In practice, each of those flow regimes is treated separately.

Reactive versus non-reactive flows
Reactive flows are flows that are chemically reactive, which finds its applications in many areas, including combustion (IC engine), propulsion devices (rockets, jet engines, and so on), detonations, fire and safety hazards, and astrophysics. In addition to conservation of mass, momentum and energy, conservation of individual species (for example, mass fraction of methane in methane combustion) need to be derived, where the production/depletion rate of any species are obtained by simultaneously solving the equations of chemical kinetics.

Magnetohydrodynamics

Magnetohydrodynamics is the multidisciplinary study of the flow of electrically conducting fluids in electromagnetic fields. Examples of such fluids include plasmas, liquid metals, and salt water. The fluid flow equations are solved simultaneously with Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism.

Relativistic fluid dynamics
Relativistic fluid dynamics studies the macroscopic and microscopic fluid motion at large velocities comparable to the velocity of light. This branch of fluid dynamics accounts for the relativistic effects both from the special theory of relativity and the general theory of relativity. The governing equations are derived in Riemannian geometry for Minkowski spacetime.

Fluctuating hydrodynamics 
This branch of fluid dynamics augments the standard hydrodynamic equations with stochastic fluxes that model 
thermal fluctuations.
As formulated by Landau and Lifshitz,
a white noise contribution obtained from the fluctuation-dissipation theorem of statistical mechanics
is added to the viscous stress tensor and heat flux.

Terminology 
The concept of pressure is central to the study of both fluid statics and fluid dynamics. A pressure can be identified for every point in a body of fluid, regardless of whether the fluid is in motion or not. Pressure can be measured using an aneroid, Bourdon tube, mercury column, or various other methods.

Some of the terminology that is necessary in the study of fluid dynamics is not found in other similar areas of study. In particular, some of the terminology used in fluid dynamics is not used in fluid statics.

Characteristic numbers

Terminology in incompressible fluid dynamics 
The concepts of total pressure and dynamic pressure arise from Bernoulli's equation and are significant in the study of all fluid flows. (These two pressures are not pressures in the usual sense—they cannot be measured using an aneroid, Bourdon tube or mercury column.) To avoid potential ambiguity when referring to pressure in fluid dynamics, many authors use the term static pressure to distinguish it from total pressure and dynamic pressure. Static pressure is identical to pressure and can be identified for every point in a fluid flow field.

A point in a fluid flow where the flow has come to rest (that is to say, speed is equal to zero adjacent to some solid body immersed in the fluid flow) is of special significance. It is of such importance that it is given a special name—a stagnation point. The static pressure at the stagnation point is of special significance and is given its own name—stagnation pressure. In incompressible flows, the stagnation pressure at a stagnation point is equal to the total pressure throughout the flow field.

Terminology in compressible fluid dynamics 
In a compressible fluid, it is convenient to define the total conditions (also called stagnation conditions) for all thermodynamic state properties (such as total temperature, total enthalpy, total speed of sound). These total flow conditions are a function of the fluid velocity and have different values in frames of reference with different motion.

To avoid potential ambiguity when referring to the properties of the fluid associated with the state of the fluid rather than its motion, the prefix "static" is commonly used (such as static temperature and static enthalpy). Where there is no prefix, the fluid property is the static condition (so "density" and "static density" mean the same thing). The static conditions are independent of the frame of reference.

Because the total flow conditions are defined by isentropically bringing the fluid to rest, there is no need to distinguish between total entropy and static entropy as they are always equal by definition. As such, entropy is most commonly referred to as simply "entropy".

See also

 List of publications in fluid dynamics
 List of fluid dynamicists

References

Further reading 
 
 
 
 
  Originally published in 1879, the 6th extended edition appeared first in 1932.
  Originally published in 1938.
 
 
 Encyclopedia: Fluid dynamics Scholarpedia

External links 

 National Committee for Fluid Mechanics Films (NCFMF), containing films on several subjects in fluid dynamics (in RealMedia format)
 Gallery of fluid motion, "a visual record of the aesthetic and science of contemporary fluid mechanics," from the American Physical Society
 List of Fluid Dynamics books

 
Piping
Aerodynamics
Continuum mechanics