Scribd
Upload
108 views2 pages

Incompressible Aerodynamics

1) An incompressible flow is one where density remains constant over time and space, though real fluids are compressible. Effects of compressibility are more significant at speeds close to or above the speed of sound. 2) Subsonic aerodynamics describes fluid motion much slower than the speed of sound. Potential flow allows for simplified solutions when the flow is inviscid, incompressible, and irrotational. 3) Compressible flows are those where the Mach number exceeds 0.3 and density changes along a streamline, unlike incompressible flows. Transonic, supersonic, and hypersonic flows are all compressible.

Uploaded by

Maan Miralles
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
108 views2 pages

Incompressible Aerodynamics

1) An incompressible flow is one where density remains constant over time and space, though real fluids are compressible. Effects of compressibility are more significant at speeds close to or above the speed of sound. 2) Subsonic aerodynamics describes fluid motion much slower than the speed of sound. Potential flow allows for simplified solutions when the flow is inviscid, incompressible, and irrotational. 3) Compressible flows are those where the Mach number exceeds 0.3 and density changes along a streamline, unlike incompressible flows. Transonic, supersonic, and hypersonic flows are all compressible.

Uploaded by

Maan Miralles
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Incompressible aerodynamics[edit]

Further information: incompressible flow


An incompressible flow is a flow in which density is constant in both time and space. Although all
real fluids are compressible, a flow is often approximated as incompressible if the effect of the
density changes cause only small changes to the calculated results. This is more likely to be true
when the flow speeds are significantly lower than the speed of sound. Effects of compressibility are
more significant at speeds close to or above the speed of sound. The Mach number is used to
evaluate whether the incompressibility can be assumed, otherwise the effects of compressibility
must be included.
Subsonic flow[edit]
Subsonic (or low-speed) aerodynamics describes fluid motion in flows which are much lower than
the speed of sound everywhere in the flow. There are several branches of subsonic flow but one
special case arises when the flow is inviscid, incompressible and irrotational. This case is
called potential flow and allows the differential equations that describe the flow to be a simplified
version of the equations of fluid dynamics, thus making available to the aerodynamicist a range of
quick and easy solutions.[20]
In solving a subsonic problem, one decision to be made by the aerodynamicist is whether to
incorporate the effects of compressibility. Compressibility is a description of the amount of change
of density in the flow. When the effects of compressibility on the solution are small, the assumption
that density is constant may be made. The problem is then an incompressible low-speed
aerodynamics problem. When the density is allowed to vary, the flow is called compressible. In air,
compressibility effects are usually ignored when the Mach number in the flow does not exceed 0.3
(about 335 feet (102 m) per second or 228 miles (366 km) per hour at 60 °F (16 °C)). Above Mach
0.3, the problem flow should be described using compressible aerodynamics.

Compressible aerodynamics[edit]
Main article: Compressible flow
According to the theory of aerodynamics, a flow is considered to be compressible if
the density changes along a streamline. This means that – unlike incompressible flow – changes in
density are considered. In general, this is the case where the Mach number in part or all of the flow
exceeds 0.3. The Mach 0.3 value is rather arbitrary, but it is used because gas flows with a Mach
number below that value demonstrate changes in density of less than 5%. Furthermore, that
maximum 5% density change occurs at the stagnation point (the point on the object where flow
speed is zero), while the density changes around the rest of the object will be significantly lower.
Transonic, supersonic, and hypersonic flows are all compressible flows.
Transonic flow[edit]
Main article: Transonic
The term Transonic refers to a range of flow velocities just below and above the local speed of
sound (generally taken as Mach 0.8–1.2). It is defined as the range of speeds between the critical
Mach number, when some parts of the airflow over an aircraft become supersonic, and a higher
speed, typically near Mach 1.2, when all of the airflow is supersonic. Between these speeds, some
of the airflow is supersonic, while some of the airflow is not supersonic.
Supersonic flow[edit]
Main article: Supersonic
Supersonic aerodynamic problems are those involving flow speeds greater than the speed of sound.
Calculating the lift on the Concorde during cruise can be an example of a supersonic aerodynamic
problem.
Supersonic flow behaves very differently from subsonic flow. Fluids react to differences in pressure;
pressure changes are how a fluid is "told" to respond to its environment. Therefore, since sound is,
in fact, an infinitesimal pressure difference propagating through a fluid, the speed of sound in that
fluid can be considered the fastest speed that "information" can travel in the flow. This difference
most obviously manifests itself in the case of a fluid striking an object. In front of that object, the fluid
builds up a stagnation pressure as impact with the object brings the moving fluid to rest. In fluid
traveling at subsonic speed, this pressure disturbance can propagate upstream, changing the flow
pattern ahead of the object and giving the impression that the fluid "knows" the object is there by
seemingly adjusting its movement and is flowing around it. In a supersonic flow, however, the
pressure disturbance cannot propagate upstream. Thus, when the fluid finally reaches the object it
strikes it and the fluid is forced to change its properties – temperature, density, pressure, and Mach
number—in an extremely violent and irreversible fashion called a shock wave. The presence of
shock waves, along with the compressibility effects of high-flow velocity (see Reynolds number)
fluids, is the central difference between the supersonic and subsonic aerodynamics regimes.

You might also like