Introduction

Gas dynamics is the science concerned with studying the causes and effects arising from the
motion of compressible fluids, particularly gases. Gas dynamics combines the principles of
mechanics, thermodynamics, aerodynamics and chemical kinetics. Gas dynamics study often
concentrates on the behavior of gases flowing at speeds comparable or even more than the speed
of sound, making it relevant in the design of aircraft and spacecraft and their propulsion systems.

The formulation of any engineering problem is based on definitions of concepts and statements
of natural laws in terms of these concepts. Examples are law of conservation of mass, Newton’s
second law of motion and law of conservation of energy. Equations relating to each of these laws
can be formulated using Control volume approch (Eulerian approach) or moving control volume
approach ( Lagrengian Approach). For the Control volume or Eulerian approach, attention is
focused to the fixed region in flowfield instead of looking at the whole flowfield at once.
However for moving control volume approach or Lagrengian approach, attention is focused on
fixed fluid elements moving in the flowfield. Common assumption in both the approaches is the
continnum of flow. Substantial or total derivative of any property acts as bridge beween these
two approaches.

2.1 Substantial or Total Derivative

Consider an infinitesimally small fluid element moving through a flowfield with velocity vector
'V', having components u, v and w in the cartesian co-ordinate system, In general these velocites
are dependant on position of the fluid element and time like all the flow properties. Consider
density of the fluid element to be ρ1 = ρ(x1, y1, z1, t1) at reference location 1 and time t1. Due to
motion of the fluid element, density at later time t2 is ρ2 = ρ(x2, y2, z2, t2). We can use Taylor
series expansion about point 1 as follows

If we negelect the higher order terms and divide both the sides by time difference we get,

(2.1)

Left hand side of above expression represents the the average time rate of change in density of
the moving fluid element as it moves from point 1 to point 2. It is also called as the substantial or
total derivative of the density and is generally represented as,

Dρ/Dt and (∂ρ/∂t)1 are physically and numerically different quantities. Dρ/Dt is the rate of
change of density of a given fluid element as it moves through space. While (∂ρ/∂t)1 is the time
rate of change of density at the fixed point 1.
Also for the right hand side of equation (2.1),

Module 1 : Basic Concepts

Lecture 2 : Governing Equations - Mass Conservation Equation

Therefore equation (2.1) can be rewritten as

Examining this equation closely, we can obtain an expression for the substantial derivative in
cartesian coordinates. That is

(2.2)

Furthermore, in Cartesian coordinates, the vector operator is defined as

This equation represents a definition of the substantial derivative in vector notation and is valid
for any coordinate system. Dρ/Dt is the substantial derivative, which is physically the time rate
of change of a moving fluid element. ∂/∂t is the local derivative, which is physically the time rate
of change at a fixed point. V. is called the convective derivative, which is necessarily the time
rate of change due to the movement of the fluid element from one location to another in the flow
field where the flow properties are varying. Thus substantial derivative is the summation of local
(temporal) and convective differentials.This proves the usefulness of substantial or total
derivative for briding Lagrangian and Eulerian approaches.

2.2 Dervation of the conservations equations.

1. Continnum
2. No chemical changes
3. The gas is perfect.
4. The fluid is single phase.
5. Gravitational effects on the flow field are negligible.
 6. Magnetic and electric effects are negligible.
7. Viscosity is negligible.

2.2.1 Conservation of Mass or Continuity Equation (Integral Form)

Conside the fluid domain as shown in the following figure (2.1). Our aim is to derive the mass
conservation equation using this fluid domain of arbitary shape.

Fig. 2.1. Finite Control Volume fixed in space

If there is no mass source in the control volume, we can equate the rate of change of mass inside
the control volume with the difference in influx and outflux of mass. Consider ρ as the density of
the flow which is function of space coordinates and time (ρ = ρ(x, y, z, t)) . Let V be velocity
vecotor of the flow which is also function of space coordinates and time and has u, v and w as
three components aligned to the coordinate axes x, y and z respectively. Consider elemental
surface area (dS) of the control volume. This area along with the unit normal is shown in Fig.
(2.1).

Total mass inside the control volume can be found by summing the mass of elemental volumes
(dv) occuping the complete finite volume. We know that ρdυ is the mass of an elemental
volume, hence total mass inside the control volume can be written as

Total mass in the control volume (CV) =

Rate of change of mass in CV=

Thus the time rate of decrease of mass inside the CV is

(2.3)
The mass flow rate of any moving fluid across any fixed surface is equal to the product of
density, area of surface and component of velocity normal to the surface. Therefore, the
elemental mass flow across the area ds is expressed as

ρVndS = ρV.dS (2.4)

Where Vn is the component of velocity normal to the surface. Thus the net mass flow out of the
entire volume through the control surface S is summation of mass flow rates through all
elemental areas dS of control surface S shown in Fig. (2.1). Hence net flux through the control
surface is

(2.5)

Here mass flux entering the CV is negative and massflux leaving the CV is positive. Therefore
eq. (2.5) gives the net mass leaving the CV which should be equal to rate of decrease of massflux
in the CV. Thus, equating equations (2.3) and (2.5), we get,

or,

(2.6)

Equation (2.6) is called as integral form of mass conservation equation or continuity equation.

2.2.2 One dimentional form of Mass conservation or Continuity Equation

Fig. 2.2. One-dimensional flow

For steady flow Equation (2.6) becomes

- ρ1u1A + ρ2u2A = 0

or

ρ1u1 = ρ2u2 (2.7)

For flow over the varying cross-sectional area such as nozzle and diffuser, equation (2.13)
modifies to

ρ1u1A1 = ρ2u2A2 (2.8)

2.2.3 Conservation of Mass or Continuity Equation (Differenntial Form)

Using Gauss divergence theorem, we can express the right hand side term of Equation (2.6) as

(2.9)

Substituting Equation (2.9) into (2.6), we obtain

or,

(2.10)

For infinetly small elemental volumes we can always write equation (2.10) as,

(2.11)

This is the continuity equation in the form of a partial differential equation. This is the
conservation form of equation. For unsteady, compressible and three dimensional flow the
Equation (2.11) can be expressed as
 (2.12)

Equation (2.12) can be re-written as

or,

(2.13)

However, the sum of the first two terms of the Equation (2.13) is the substantial derivative of ρ.
Thus, from Equation (2.13),

(2.14)

This is the form of continuity equation written in terms of the substantial derivative. This is also
called as the non-conservative form of mass conservation or continuity equation.