Fluid Dynamics IB

Dr Natalia Berloff
§3.4 Applications of irrotational, time-dependent Bernoulli
Inviscid, irrotational models can give useful insight into certain kinds of unsteady fluid
behaviour and their timescales, relevant to laboratory and industrial fluid systems.
§3.4.1 Fast jet generator, version 1
In the situation sketched below we neglect gravity. The tube contains water, supplied from
the container on the left. The flow starts from rest at time t = 0. The pressure p at x = 0,
the left-hand end of the tube, is controlled by a feedback mechanism, not shown in the
sketch; thus p at x = 0 is prescribed as a given function of time:
¯
p¯x=0 = patm + p0 (t) ; p0 (t) > 0 for t > 0 and p0 (t) = 0 for t < 0 .

Assume that the flow is unidirectional (k x) in the tube and that the water emerges from
the far end x = L as a free jet in which the pressure p ' patm . Determine the velocity of
the flow in the tube.
Because the flow starts from rest it is irrotational, and therefore has a velocity potential.

¯ ¯
Apply time-dependent Bernoulli: H̃ constant along tube, H̃ ¯x>0 = H̃ ¯x=0 = constant; so

E.g. if p0 = positive constant for t > 0, then

§3.4.2 Fast jet generator, version 2
Same problem as before, except that pressure now controlled via force on piston to be
patm + p0 (t); so pressure at x = 0 is now unknown. The potential φ = 0 at x = −ξ (this
condition is needed to have a smooth solution, beyond our scope here).

As before, but compare x = L and x = −ξ:

p
Define velocity scale U0 = 2p0 /ρ and time scale t0 = 2L/U0 . Then in terms of dimen-
sionless variables η = u/U0 and τ = t/t0 the differential equation becomes

§3.4.3 Inviscid manometer oscillations

The water, mercury, or other fluid in a U-tube manometer can oscillate under gravity.
Inviscid, irrotational models give useful estimates of the period of oscillation. One example
is the following fluid system, in which the bottom of the U-tube is replaced by a large
reservoir.
Take coordinates such that the top of the reservoir and bottom of each tube are at z = 0.
Let the equilibrium position of the free surface in each tube, with the fluid everywhere at
rest, be z = h. Assume a ¿ h and a ¿ size of reservoir.
Consider motion starting from an initial state of rest with one free surface higher than the
other, as shown. In the real world, one could hold the system in such a state by pumping
a little air into tube (2) and temporarily sealing the top; the problem is to investigate the
oscillations excited when the seal is suddenly removed.

Once again, we argue that the flow starts from rest, hence remains irrotational (in this
inviscid fluid model), hence may be described by a velocity potential φ. Just as before,
we take the flow to be uniform within each tube, u = (0, 0, w), a function of time alone.
Mass conservation requires that, in the first tube, say, w = ζ̇ where the dot denotes the
time derivative, and likewise in the second tube, where w = ζ̇2 = −ζ̇.
In tube (1), uniform flow u = (0, 0, ζ̇)
In tube (2), uniform flow (0, 0, −ζ̇)
Now apply the constancy of H̃:

In particular, H̃ must have the same values at the two free surfaces, i.e. at z = h + ζ in
tube (1) and z = h − ζ in tube (2). Therefore

The last equation implies that the oscillations are sinusoidal of period 2π(h/g) 1/2 ; e.g.
1 second when h = 25 cm and g = 980 cm s−2 .
Note that there is no formal restriction to small amplitude, because of the cancellation
of the nonlinear terms. (That cancellation, however, depends on our assumption that the
two tubes have the same cross-sectional area. Ex. Sheet 2 Q10 is an example where this
does not apply, and where the nonlinearities are therefore significant, just as they are in
version 2 of the jet problem.)

§3.4.4 Bubbles and cavities: oscillations and collapse

This is another practically important case of unsteady flow where inviscid, irrotational fluid
models are useful, and indeed quite accurate in some circumstances. You have probably
heard the musical notes, the plink, plonk sounds, that typically occur when water drips into
a tank. These are due to the kind of bubble oscillations we consider here. The collapse of
cavities, temporary bubbles with near-zero interior pressure, is an important consideration
in the design of technologies that use high-energy liquid flow, e.g. in ship propeller design.
Gravity is negligible in all these problems; and irrotational fluid models capture much of
what happens.

*Such collapse can produce extraordinary concentrations of energy, and if it occurs near boundaries it can
cause significant damage to the boundary material. In certain other cases (not near boundaries), local
energy densities can reach such high values that atoms near the origin are excited and give off photons —
a phenomenon called ‘sonoluminescence’.

Consider a spherical bubble of radius a(t) centred at the origin:

Suppose that the bubble changes its radius, at rate ȧ(t), while remaining spherical. Then
the surrounding flow is the same as that due to a spherically symmetric mass source (ȧ > 0)
or sink (ȧ < 0) flow in r > a, i.e., φ ∝ 1/r. Treat r = a as an impermeable boundary
moving with velocity U = ȧer . The kinematic boundary condition u.n = U.n at r = a
(with n = er ) gives

∂φ p
Use time-dependent Bernoulli: values of H̃ = ∂t + 21 |u|2 + ρ are the same for all r > a
(gravity neglected).
In particular, at r = a+ (i.e. just within the incompressible fluid, just outside the bubble;
i.e. in the limit as r ↓ a through values > a),

(The pressure p(a− , t) just inside the bubble can differ from that just outside, p(a+ , t),
because of surface tension.)
Eliminating ä between (*) and (**) gives

Frequency of small oscillations:

Put radius a(t) = a0 + δa, with δa ¿ a0 , and assume constant background pressure at
infinity, p(∞, t) = p∞ , say. Assume system is in equilibrium, u = 0 everywhere, when
a = a0 , with p(a+ ) = p0 = p∞ = F (a0 ) when in equilibrium and F (a) is specified. The
function F (a) ≈ p0 (a0 /a)3γ , γ ≈ 7/5 (p0 is pressure inside the bubble of radius a0 ) in
cases where the bubble is made of perfect gas undergoing adiabatic (thermodynamically
reversible) compression or dilatation, and where surface tension is negligible (all of which
is fairly accurate for air bubbles of millimetre size in water, typically within a few percent).
Pressure fluctuation δp = p(a+ , t) − p0 linearizes to

and linearizing (**) gives

This represents simple harmonic motion δa(t) ∝ sin(σt + const.) with (radian) frequency
s
3γp0
σ = .
ρa20

Putting in typical numbers for air bubbles in water, under ordinary conditions (p 0 = 105 Pa,
ρ = 103 kg m−3 ) we find that the frequency in hertz or cycles per second, i.e. σ/2π,
≈ 650 Hz cm/2a0 = 6.5 kHz mm/2a0 . E.g. to get 1 kHz, the pitch of the radio time-pips,
need a0 to be about 3.3 mm.
Total collapse of a cavity
A cavity is a bubble with very small interior pressures, usually formed as a result of
‘cavitation’ in high-energy flows of liquids around convex solid boundaries, where relative
flow speeds can become large and pressures low, as suggested by Bernoulli’s theorem, even
to the point of becoming negative. The classic case is that of ships’ propellers.
Liquids under ordinary conditions cannot withstand tension, i.e. negative pressure; so
when the pressure is reduced sufficiently, cavities will form and grow. When such a cavity is
carried into surroundings where the pressure is positive again, it tends to collapse violently.
The limiting case of zero interior pressure, with p(∞, t) a positive constant, is relevant as
a simple model of this situation:
Consider a spherical cavity of radius a(t), with p(a+ , t) = 0 and with the motion starting
from rest: initial conditions are a = a0 and ȧ = 0 at t = 0 .
Background pressure p(∞, t) = constant = p∞ . Use (*) above but now taking p(a+ , t) = 0
and p(∞, t) = p∞ = constant we have simply

So, using the initial conditions, we have

The pressure maximum has formed and is moving inward, and, in the limit a → 0, its
value asymptotically approaches the value given by the second term alone, at r ≈ 4 1/3 a.
µ ¶1/2 µ ¶3/2
p a0
That value can be seen, from substituting ȧ ≈ 32 ρ∞ a , to be asymptoti-
3
p∞ a 0
cally 44/3 a3
= pmax .
a 1
E.g. at = , find p∞ = 1 atm ⇒ pmax ∼ 160 atm
a0 10
and ȧ ∼ 260 ms−1
(approaching pressures that can melt some metals!)