Fluid Kinematics

Margarida Telo da Gama

Rodrigo Coelho

MMC-2021/22
Overview

• Fluid Kinematics deals with the motion of fluids without

considering the forces and moments which create the
motion.

• Reference: (Chap. 4) Fluid Mechanics: Fundamentals and

Applications, by Çengel & Cimbala, McGraw-Hill series in
mechanical engineering.
What is a fluid ?
Tension (or stress): Force per unit area
• Normal tension: perpendicular to the surface
• Shear tension: parallel to the surface

Materials respond differently to shear stresses:

• Solids deform non-permanently
• Plastics deform permanently
• Fluids do not resist: they flow

In a fluid at mechanical equilibrium the shear stresses are

ZERO.

A fluid may be a gas or a liquid

Lagrangian Description

• Lagrangian description of fluid flow tracks the position and

velocity of individual particles.

• Based upon Newton's laws of motion.

• Difficult to use for practical flow analysis.

• Fluids are composed of billions of molecules.
• Interaction between molecules hard to describe/model.

• However, useful for specialized applications

• Sprays, particles, bubble dynamics, rarefied gases.
• Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian methods.

• Named after Italian mathematician Joseph Louis Lagrange

(1736-1813).
Eulerian Description
• Eulerian description of fluid flow: a flow domain or control volume is defined by
which fluid flows in and out.

• We define field variables which are functions of space and time.

• Pressure field, P=P(x,y,z,t)
! !
• Velocity field, V = V ( x, y , z , t )
! ! ! !
V = u ( x, y , z , t ) i + v ( x, y , z , t ) j + w ( x , y , z , t ) k
• Acceleration field, ! !
a = a ( x, y , z , t )
! ! ! !
a = a x ( x, y , z , t ) i + a y ( x, y , z , t ) j + a z ( x , y , z , t ) k

• These (and other) field variables define the flow field.

• Well suited for formulation of initial boundary-value problems (PDE’s).

• Named after Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler (1707-1783).

Example: Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian Method

Forensic analysis of Columbia accident: simulation of shuttle

debris trajectory using Eulerian CFD for flow field and Lagrangian
method for the debris.
Acceleration Field

• Consider a fluid particle and Newton's second law,

! !
Fparticle = m particle a particle

• The acceleration of the particle is the time derivative of the

particle's velocity. ! !
dV particle
a particle =
dt
• However, particle velocity at a point is the same as the fluid
velocity, ! !
V particle = V ( x particle ( t ) , y particle ( t ) , z particle ( t ) )

• To take the time derivative of Vparticle the chain rule must be

used.

Obtain the expression for the acceleration and for the material derivative.
Acceleration Field

Solve the problem and discuss the assumptions.

Answer: 160 ft/s^2

Material Derivative

• The total derivative operator is called the material derivative and

is often given special notation, D/Dt.

• Advective acceleration is nonlinear: source of many phenomena

and primary challenge in solving fluid flow problems.
• Provides ``transformation'' between Lagrangian and Eulerian
frames.
• Other names for the material derivative include: total, particle,
and substantial derivative.
Flow Visualization

• Flow visualization is the visual examination of flow-field

features.

• Important for both physical experiments and numerical

(CFD) solutions.

• Numerous methods
• Streamlines and streamtubes
• Pathlines
• Streaklines
• Timelines
• Refractive techniques
• Surface flow techniques
Streamlines • A Streamline is a curve that is
everywhere tangent to the
instantaneous local velocity vector.
• Consider an arc length
! ! ! !
dr = dxi + dyj + dzk
!
• dr must be parallel to the local
velocity vector
! ! ! !
V = ui + vj + wk
• Geometric arguments results in the
equation for a streamline

Expression
 Streamlines
NASCAR surface pressure contours and Airplane surface pressure contours,
streamlines volume streamlines, and surface
streamlines
Calculate the streamlines for the following velocity field:
Pathlines
• A Pathline is the actual path traveled by
an individual fluid particle over some time
period.

• Same as the fluid particle's material

position vector
(x particle ( t ) , y particle ( t ) , z particle ( t ) )
• Particle location at time t:
! !
t
!
x = xstart + ò
tstart
Vdt

• Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) is a

modern experimental technique to
measure velocity field over a plane in the
flow field.
Calculate the pathlines for the following velocity field:
Streaklines

• A Streakline is the locus

of fluid particles that
have passed sequentially
through a prescribed
point in the flow.

• Easy to generate in
experiments: dye in a
water flow, or smoke in
an airflow.
 Refractive Flow Visualization
Techniques
Timelines: A timeline is a set of
adjacent fluid particles that were
marked at the same
(earlier) instant in time.
Comparisons

• For steady flow, streamlines, pathlines, and

streaklines are identical.

• For unsteady flow, they can be very different.

• Streamlines are an instantaneous picture of the flow field.
• Pathlines and Streaklines are flow patterns that have a
time history associated with them.
• Streakline: instantaneous snapshot of a time-integrated
flow pattern.
• Pathline: time-exposed flow path of an individual
particle.
Flow rate

• The volumetric flow rate is the

volume of fluid which passes
per unit time; usually it is
represented by the symbol Q.

𝑄 = # 𝑉 % 𝑛𝑑𝐴
Kinematic Description

• In fluid mechanics, an element

may undergo four fundamental
types of motion.
a) Translation
b) Rotation
c) Linear strain
d) Shear strain

• Because fluids are in constant

motion and deformation, they
are better described in terms of
rates
a) velocity: rate of translation
b) angular velocity: rate of rotation
c) linear strain rate: rate of linear
strain
d) shear strain rate: rate of shear
strain
Rate of Translation and Rotation

• To be useful, these rates must be expressed in terms of velocity

and derivatives of velocity
• The rate of translation vector is described as the velocity vector.
In Cartesian coordinates:
! ! ! !
V = ui + vj + wk
• Rate of rotation at a point is defined as the average rotation rate
of two initially perpendicular lines that intersect at that point.
The rate of rotation vector in Cartesian coordinates:
!1 æ ¶w ¶v ö ! 1 æ ¶u ¶w ö ! 1 æ ¶v ¶u ö !
w= ç - ÷i + ç - ÷ j + ç - ÷k
2 è ¶y ¶z ø 2 è ¶z ¶x ø 2 è ¶x ¶y ø
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Del_em_coordenadas_cil%C3%ADndricas_e_esf%C3%A9ricas
Linear Strain Rate

• Linear Strain Rate is defined as the rate of increase in length per unit length.
In Cartesian coordinates

¶u ¶v ¶w
e xx = , e yy = , e zz =
¶x ¶y ¶z
• Volumetric strain rate in Cartesian coordinates

1 DV ¶u ¶v ¶w
= e xx + e yy + e zz = + +
V Dt ¶x ¶y ¶z
• Since the volume of a fluid element is constant for an incompressible flow, the
volumetric strain rate must be zero.

Interpret the divergence

Shear Strain Rate

• Shear Strain Rate at a point is defined as half of the

rate of decrease of the angle between two initially
perpendicular lines that intersect at a point.

• Shear strain rate can be expressed in Cartesian

coordinates as:

1 æ ¶u ¶v ö 1 æ ¶w ¶u ö 1 æ ¶v ¶w ö
e xy = ç + ÷ , e zx = ç + ÷ , e yz = ç + ÷
2 è ¶y ¶x ø 2 è ¶x ¶z ø 2 è ¶z ¶y ø
Shear Strain Rate

We can combine linear strain rate and shear strain rate

into one symmetric second-order tensor called the
strain-rate tensor.

æ ¶u 1 æ ¶u ¶v ö 1 æ ¶u ¶w ö ö
ç ç + ÷ ç + ÷÷
ç ¶x 2 è ¶y ¶x ø 2 è ¶z ¶x ø ÷
æ e xx e xy e xz ö ç
ç ÷ 1 æ ¶v ¶u ö ¶v 1 æ ¶v ¶w ö ÷
e ij = ç e yx e yy e yz ÷ = ç ç + ÷ ç + ÷ ÷
ç e zx ÷ ç 2 è ¶x ¶y ø ¶y 2 è ¶z ¶y ø ÷
è e zy e zz ø ç ÷
ç 1 æ ¶w + ¶u ö 1 æ ¶w ¶v ö ¶w ÷
ç 2 çè ¶x ¶z ÷ø ç + ÷ ÷
è 2 è ¶y ¶z ø ¶z ø

Write in tensor form

Shear Strain Rate

• Purpose of our discussion of fluid element kinematics:

• Better appreciation of the inherent complexity of fluid
dynamics
• Mathematical sophistication required to fully describe fluid
motion

• Strain-rate tensor is important for numerous reasons.

For example,
• Develop relationships between fluid stress and strain rate.
• Feature extraction and flow visualization in CFD simulations.
 Shear Strain Rate
Example: Visualization of trailing-edge turbulent eddies
for a hydrofoil with a beveled trailing edge

Feature extraction method is based upon eigen-analysis of the strain-rate tensor.

Vorticity and Rotationality
• The vorticity vector is defined as the curl of the velocity vector
! ! !
z = Ñ ´V
• Vorticity is equal to twice the angular velocity of a fluid particle.
! !
z = 2w
Cartesian coordinates
! æ ¶w ¶v ö ! æ ¶u ¶w ö ! æ ¶v ¶u ö !
z =ç - ÷i + ç - ÷ j + ç - ÷k
è ¶y ¶z ø è ¶z ¶x ø è ¶x ¶y ø
Cylindrical coordinates
! æ 1 ¶u z ¶uq ö ! æ ¶ur ¶u z ö ! æ ¶ ( ruq ) ¶ur ö! 1
z =ç - ÷ er + ç - ÷ eq + ç - ÷ ez
è r ¶q ¶z ø è ¶z ¶r ø è ¶r ¶q ø 𝑟
• In regions where z = 0, the flow is called irrotational.
• Elsewhere, the flow is called rotational.
Vorticity and Rotationality
 Comparison of Two Circular Flows
Special case: consider two flows with circular streamlines

K
ur = 0, uq = w r ur = 0, uq =
r
1 æ ¶ ( ruq ) ¶ur ö ! 1 æ ¶ (w r ) ö! ! 1 æ ¶ ( ruq ) ¶ur ö ! 1 æ ¶(K )
2
! ! ö! !
z = ç - e
÷ z = ç - 0 ÷ e = 2w e z = ç - e
÷ z = ç - 0 ÷ ez = 0ez
¶q r ç ¶r ÷ z z
r è ¶r ø r è ¶r ¶q ø r è ¶r ø
è ø
Reynolds—Transport Theorem (RTT)

• A system is a quantity of matter of fixed identity. No mass

can cross a system boundary.
• A control volume is a region in space chosen for study. Mass
can cross a control surface.
• The fundamental conservation laws (conservation of mass,
energy, and momentum) apply directly to systems.
• However, in most fluid mechanics problems, control volume
analysis is preferred over system analysis (for the same
reason that the Eulerian description is usually preferred over
the Lagrangian description).
• Therefore, we need to transform the conservation laws from
a system to a control volume. This is accomplished with the
Reynolds transport theorem (RTT).
 Reynolds—Transport Theorem (RTT)

General

Intensive property

𝑓 =𝜌𝑏

Material element

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynolds_transport_theorem
Reynolds—Transport Theorem (RTT)
• Material derivative (differential analysis):
Db ¶b ! !
=
Dt ¶t
+ V "Ñ b ( )
• General RTT (integral analysis):

• Interpretation of the RTT:

• Time rate of change of the property B of the system is equal to (Term 1) +
(Term 2)
• Term 1: the time rate of change of B of the control volume
• Term 2: the net flux of B out of the control volume by mass crossing the
control surface
• b=B/m (intensive property)
Reynolds—Transport Theorem (RTT)

There is an analogy between the transformation from Lagrangian

to Eulerian descriptions (for differential analysis using
infinitesimally small fluid elements) and that from systems to
control volumes (for integral analysis using finite flow fields).
Conservation of mass (continuity equation)

• Integral form
Conservation of mass (continuity equation)

• Differential form

• Use divergence theorem to transform the surface integral into a

volume integral and equate the integrands,

𝜕𝜌
∇ % 𝜌𝑉 = −
𝜕𝑡

• For an incompressible fluid (constant density) the continuity equation

reduces to
∇%𝑉 =0

• The velocity field has ZERO divergence.

Math review

52
 Line integral

Ex.: circulation

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Stokes theorem
Acheson (appendix)

The surface S is connected and limited by C. Use the right-hand rule to determine
the direction of S according to C.

Other useful rule for cross

product

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Stokes theorem
Ex.: vorticity

Lid driven cavity

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 K
ur = 0, uq =
r
! 1 æ ¶ ( ruq ) ¶ur ö ! 1 æ ¶(K ) ö! !
z = ç - e
÷ z = ç - 0 ÷ ez = 0ez
r è ¶r ¶q ø r è ¶r ø

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Gauss theorem

57
Kronecker Delta
Einstein notation

58
Levi-Civita symbol

Properties

59
(Acheson)

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Show that:

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