Scribd
Upload
66 views5 pages

Support Class 2

This document discusses streamlines, streamfunctions, and vorticity for fluid flows. It provides two examples: 1) A flow with velocity components u=u0 and v=kt, where u0 and k are constants. It shows that the streamlines for this flow are straight lines, and that fluid particles follow parabolic paths as time proceeds. 2) A 2D flow with velocity components u=y/(x^2+y^2) and v=x/(x^2+y^2). It shows that the streamlines for this flow are circles centered at the origin. The document also defines vorticity for 3D flows and provides its form in polar coordinates.

Uploaded by

Prince Israel Eboigbe
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
66 views5 pages

Support Class 2

This document discusses streamlines, streamfunctions, and vorticity for fluid flows. It provides two examples: 1) A flow with velocity components u=u0 and v=kt, where u0 and k are constants. It shows that the streamlines for this flow are straight lines, and that fluid particles follow parabolic paths as time proceeds. 2) A 2D flow with velocity components u=y/(x^2+y^2) and v=x/(x^2+y^2). It shows that the streamlines for this flow are circles centered at the origin. The document also defines vorticity for 3D flows and provides its form in polar coordinates.

Uploaded by

Prince Israel Eboigbe
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 5

2 Streamlines and Streamfunctions

Find the streamlines of a flow by solving


1 dx 1 dy 1 dz
= = , (6)
u ds v ds w ds
where the streamline is parameterised by s. For an incompressible (r · u = 0), 2D (u = (u, v, 0))
flow we can find a streamfunction such that
@ @
u= ,v = . (7)
@y @x
In polar coordinates this is,
1@ @
ur = , u✓ = , (8)
r @✓ @r
where u = (ur , u✓ , uz ). Streamlines are when the stream function is constant, ie. level set of
the streamfunction.
Example 1. (Acheson Exercise 1.8) Consider the unsteady flow
u = u0 , v = kt, w = 0, (9)
where u0 , k are positive constants. Show that the streamlines are straight lines. Also show any
fluid particle follows a parabolic path as time proceeds.

We can find the streamlines by integrating


1 dx 1 dy dz
= ,0 = (10)
u0 ds kt ds ds
to get
kt
y= x + const, z = const. (11)
u0
Alternatively, since this is a 2D flow, we may use the streamfunction found by solving:
@ @
u0 = , kt = , (12)
@y @x
to get = u0 y ktx. Now the streamlines are when the streamfunction is constant ( = const)
giving the streamlines as in equation (11), which are straight lines with gradient ukt0 . The particle
paths may be found by solving
@x @y @z
= u0 , = kt, = 0, (13)
@t X @t X @t X

where X = (X, Y, Z) are the Lagrangian coordinates. This gives


1
x = u0 t + F1 (X), y = kt2 + F2 (X), z = F3 (X), (14)
2
for some functions F1 , F2 , F3 . We then use the fact that the Eulerian (fixed in space) and
Lagrangian (follow fluid) coordinates coincide at t = 0, ie. x = X, to get
1
x = u0 t + X, y = kt2 + Y, z = Z. (15)
2
Eliminating t gives,
✓ ◆2
1 x X
y= k + Y. (16)
2 u0
Hence the particle paths are parabolic. Notice that equation (15) gives the transformation from
Lagrangian coordinates to Eulerian coordinates x = '(X, t).
Figure 1: Streamlines are straight lines for this flow. The red line indicates the path of a particle
originating from the origin.

Example 2. Find the streamlines of the 2D flow


y x
u= ,v = . (17)
x2 + y2 x2 + y2
For a 2D flow the streamfunction is found by solving,
@ @
u= ,v = , (18)
@y @x
which gives = 12 log(x2 + y 2 ). Streamlines are then when this function is constant, that is
2 2
x + y = const, ie. streamlines are circles.

Figure 2: Streamlines are circles (clockwise) for this flow.

3 Vorticity
Vorticity in 3D is defined as
✓ ◆
@uz @uy @ux @uz @uy @ux
! =r⇥u= , , . (19)
@y @z @z @x @x @y
In polar coordinates the vorticity is
e re✓ ez
1 r
!= @r @✓ @z . (20)
r
ur ru✓ uz
If ! = 0 then the flow is irrotational.
Example: steady inviscid
flow

Text
Example: unsteady irrotational flow

You might also like