Fluid kinematics

Fluid kinematics deals with describing the motion of fluids without necessarily
considering the forces and moments that cause the motion.

Objective
• Understand the role of the material derivative in transforming between
Lagrangian and Eulerian descriptions
• Distinguish between various types of flow visualizations and methods of
plotting the characteristics of a fluid flow
• Have an appreciation for the many ways that fluids move and deform
• Distinguish between rotational and irrotational regions of flow based on the
flow property vorticity
Lagrangian and Eulerian descriptions
• The Lagrangian Description is one in which individual fluid particles are tracked,
much like the tracking of billiard balls in a high school physics experiment.
 Lagrangian description

• In the Lagrangian description of fluid flow, individual fluid particles are "marked," and
their positions, velocities, etc. are described as a function of time.
• In the example shown, particles A and B have been identified. Position vectors and
velocity vectors are shown at one instant of time for each of these marked particles. As
the particles move in the flow field, their postions and velocities change with time, as
seen in the animated diagram.
• The physical laws, such as Newton's laws and conservation of mass and energy, apply
directly to each particle. If there were only a few particles to consider, as in a high
school physics experiment with billiard balls, the Lagrangian description would be
desirable. However, fluid flow is a continuum phenomenon, at least down to the
molecular level. It is not possible to track each "particle" in a complex flow field. Thus,
the Lagrangian description is rarely used in fluid mechanics.
Lagrangian description

Advantages of Lagrangian Method:

1. Since motion and trajectory of each fluid particle is known, its history can be
traced.
2. Since particles are identified at the start and traced throughout their motion,
conservation of mass is inherent.

Disadvantages of Lagrangian Method:

The solution of the equations presents appreciable mathematical difficulties

except certain special cases and therefore, the method is rarely suitable for
practical applications.
 Eulerian descriptions
The Eulerian Description is one in which a control volume is defined, within which fluid
flow properties of interest are expressed as fields.

• In the Eulerian description of fluid flow, individual fluid particles are not identified. Instead, a control
volume is defined, as shown in the diagram.
• Pressure, velocity, acceleration, and all other flow properties are described as fields within the control
volume. In other words, each property is expressed as a function of space and time, as shown for the
velocity field in the diagram.
• In the Eulerian description of fluid flow, one is not concerned about the location or velocity of any
particular particle, but rather about the velocity, acceleration, etc. of whatever particle happens to be
at a particular location of interest at a particular time.
• Since fluid flow is a continuum phenomenon, at least down to the molecular level, the Eulerian
description is usually preferred in fluid mechanics. Note, however, that the physical laws such as
Newton's laws and the laws of conservation of mass and energy apply directly to particles in a
Lagrangian description. Hence, some translation or reformulation of these laws is required for use with
an Eulerian description.
Eulerian descriptions…
Example - Pressure field - An example of a fluid flow variable expressed in Eulerian
terms is the pressure. Rather than following the pressure of an individual particle, a
pressure field is introduced, i.e.
p = p(x,y,z,t).

• Note that pressure is a scalar, and is written as a function of space and time (x,y,z,
and t).
• In other words, at a given point in space (x,y, and z), and at some particular time
(t), the pressure is defined. In the Eulerian description, it is of no concern which
fluid particle is at that location at that time. In fact, whatever fluid particle
happens to be at that location at time t experiences the pressure defined above.
Example - Velocity field - An example of a fluid flow variable expressed in Eulerian
terms is the velocity. Rather than following the velocity of an individual particle, a
velocity field is introduced, i.e.
 Material Derivative (or Total derivative)
The Material Derivative, also called the Total Derivative or Substantial Derivative is useful
as a bridge between Lagrangian and Eulerian descriptions.
Definition of the material derivative - The material derivative of some quantity is
simply defined as the rate of change of that quantity following a fluid particle. It is
derived for some arbitrary fluid property Q as follows:

• In this derivation, dt/dt = 1 by definition, and since a fluid particle is being followed, dx/dt = u, i.e.
the x-component of the velocity of the fluid particle. Similarly, dy/dt = v, and dz/dt = w following a
fluid particle.
• Note that Q can be any fluid property, scalar or vector. For example, Q can be a scalar like the
pressure, in which case one gets the material derivative or substantial derivative of the pressure. In
other words, dp/dt is the rate of change of pressure following a fluid particle. Or, using the same
equations above, Q can be the velocity vector, in which case one gets the material derivative of the
velocity, which is defined as the material acceleration, i.e. the rate of change of velocity following a
fluid particle.
Material Derivative (or Total derivative)…
• Note also the notation, DQ/DT, which is used by some authors to emphasize that this
is a material or total derivative, as opposed to some partial derivative. DQ/DT is
identical to dQ/dt.

• The material derivative is a field quantity, i.e. it is expressed in the Eulerian frame of
reference as a function of space and time (x,y,z,t). Thus, at some given spatial
location (x,y,z) and at some given time (t), DQ/Dt = dQ/dt = the material derivative of
Q, and is defined as the total rate of change of Q with respect to time as one follows
whatever fluid particle happens to be at that location at that instant of time.

• Q changes for two reasons: First, if the flow is unsteady, Q changes directly with
respect to time. This is called the local or unsteady rate of change of Q.

• Second, Q changes as the fluid particle migrates or convects to a new location in the
flow field. This is called the convective or advective rate of change of Q.
Material Derivative (or Total derivative)…
Example - the material acceleration, following a fluid particle - The material
acceleration can be derived as follows:

• The first term on the right hand side is called the local acceleration or the unsteady
acceleration. It is only non-zero in an unsteady flow.
• The last three terms make up the convective acceleration, which is defined as the
acceleration due to convection or movement of the fluid particle to a different part
of the flow field. The convective acceleration can be non-zero even in a steady flow!
In other words, even when the velocity field is not a function of time (i.e. a steady
flow), a fluid particle is still accelerated from one location to another.
Fundamentals of flow visualization
• While quantitative study of fluid dynamics requires advanced mathematics, much can be learned
from flow visualization—the visual examination of flow field features. Flow visualization is useful
not only in physical experiments (Fig.), but in numerical solutions as well [computational fluid
dynamics (CFD)]. In fact, the very first thing an engineer using CFD does after obtaining a
numerical solution is simulate some form of flow visualization, so that he or she can see the
“whole picture” rather than merely a list of numbers and quantitative data. Why? Because the
human mind is designed to rapidly process an incredible amount of visual information; as they
say, a picture is worth a thousand words. There are many types of flow patterns that can be
visualized, both physically (experimentally) and/or computationally.

Von Karman vortex

Fundamentals of flow visualization…
• Streamlines and Streamtubes
• Streaklines
• Timelines

• Refractive Flow Visualization Techniques

• Surface Flow Visualization Techniques
Streamlines and Streamtubes
• A streamline is a curve that is everywhere tangent to the instantaneous local
velocity vector.
• Streamlines are useful as indicators of the instantaneous direction of fluid
motion throughout the flow field.
• For example, regions of recirculating flow and separation of a fluid off of a
car are easily identified by the streamline pattern.
• Streamlines cannot be directly observed experimentally except in steady flow
fields, in which they are coincident with pathlines and streaklines.
• Mathematically, however, we can write a simple expression for a streamline
based on its definition.
 Streamlines and Streamtubes
Consider an infinitesimal arc length dr = dxi
+dyj+ dzk along a streamline; dr must be
parallel to the local velocity vector V = ui +vj
+wk by definition of the streamline. By simple
geometric arguments using similar triangles,
we know that the components of dr must
be proportional to those of V (fig). Hence,

For two-dimensional flow in the xy plane,

arc length dr = (dx,dy) along a streamlineis
where ratios are magnitudes of everywhere tangent to the local
respective vectors instantaneous velocity vector V=(u,v).

In two dimensions, (x, y), (u, v), the following differential equation for streamline is
obtained:

In simple cases, above Eq. may be solvable analytically; in the general case, it must be solved numerically. In
either case, an arbitrary constant of integration appears, and the family of curves that satisfy above Eq.
represents streamlines of the flow field.
Problem
A Steady Two-Dimensional Velocity Field

A steady, incompressible, two-dimensional velocity field is given by

• where the x- and y-coordinates are in meters and the magnitude of velocity
is in m/s. A stagnation pointis defined as a point in the flow field where the
velocity is identically zero.
• (a) Determine if there are any stagnation points in this flow field and, if so,
where?
• (b) Sketch velocity vectors at several locations in the domain between x=- 2 m
to 2 m and y= 0 m to 5 m; qualitatively describe the flow field.
• Sketch the total acceleration field.
• Plot several streamlines in the right half of the flow (x(0) and compare to
the velocity vectors
Streamtube

• A streamtube consists of a bundle of streamlines (Fig. ), much like a

communications cable consists of a bundle of fiber-optic cables.
• Since streamlines are everywhere parallel to the local velocity, fluid cannot
cross a streamline by definition.
• By extension, fluid within a streamtube must remain there and cannot
cross the boundary of the streamtube.
• You must keep in mind that both streamlines and streamtubes are
instantaneous quantities, defined at a particular instant in time according to
the velocity field at that instant. In an unsteady flow, the streamline pattern
may change significantly with time. Nevertheless, at any instant in time,
the mass flow rate passing through any cross-sectional slice of a given
streamtube must remain the same.
Pathlines
• A pathline is the actual path traveled by an
individual fluid particle over some time period.
• Pathlines are the easiest of the flow patterns to
understand. A pathline is a Lagrangian concept in
that we simply follow the path of an individual
fluid particle as it moves around in the flow field

An intriguing example is shown in Fig. for the case of waves moving along the surface of water
in a tank. Neutrally buoyant white tracer particles are suspended in the water, and a time-
exposure photograph is taken for one complete wave period. The result is pathlines that are
elliptical in shape, showing that fluid particles bob up and down and forward and
backward, but return to their original position upon completion of one wave period; there
is no net forward motion. You may have experienced something similar while bobbing up and
down on ocean waves
Pathlines produced by
white tracer particles
suspended in water and
captured by time-exposure
photography; as waves
pass horizontally, each
particle moves in an
elliptical path during one
wave period.
Pathlines…

• A pathline is the actual path traversed by a given (marked) fluid particle. (A

pathline is an integrated pattern.) For example, consider simple shear flow
between parallel plates.
• A pathline is the actual path traversed by a given (marked) fluid particle. A
pathline represents an integrated history of where the fluid particle has
been. In this example, pathlines are simply horizontal lines.
 Pathlines…

Particle image velocimetry (PIV)

• PIV utilizes particle pathlines to
measure the velocity field over an
entire plane in a flow. Recent
advances also extend the
technique to three dimensions.

• In PIV, tiny tracer particles are

suspended in the fluid, However,
the flow is illuminated by two
flashes of light (usually from a PIV experimental technique
laser) to produce two bright spots
on the film or photosensor for each
moving particle.

• Then, both the magnitude and

direction of the velocity vector at
each particle location can be
inferred, assuming that the tracer
particles are small enough that
they move with the fluid.

PIV measurement on a model PIV measurement of a fish in

aircraft in a wind tunnel tank
 Streaklines
• A streakline is the locus of fluid particles that have passed sequentially through a
prescribed point in the flow.
• Streaklines are the most common flow pattern generated in a physical
experiment.
• If you insert a small tube into a flow and introduce a continuous stream of tracer fluid
(dye in a water flow or smoke in an airflow), the observed pattern is a streakline.
• With regard to flow visualization, streaklines are defined as the traces of a colored
material in the low. To understand streaklines, consider a fluid flow with an ink dye
injected at a particular point. If the ink is continuously injected, then a line will be
traced out by the ink in the direction of the flow, this is a streakline. If the direction of
flow changes, then the streaklines change accordingly.
 Streaklines…
• If you insert a small tube into a flow and
introduce a continuous stream of tracer
fluid (dye in a water flow or smoke in an
airflow), the observed pattern is a
streakline.
• Figure shows a tracer being injected into a
free-stream flow containing an object, such
as the nose of a wing.
• The circles represent individual injected
tracer fluid particles, released at a uniform
time interval. As the particles are forced out
of the way by the object, they accelerate
around the shoulder of the object, as
indicated by the increased distance
between individual tracer particles in A streakline is formed by continuous
that region. introduction of dye or smoke from a
point in the flow. Labeled tracer
• The streakline is formed by connecting
particles (1 through 8) were introduced
all the circles into a smooth curve. sequentially.
 Streaklines…
• In physical experiments in a wind or water
tunnel, the smoke or dye is injected
continuously, not as individual particles, and
the resulting flow pattern is by definition a
streakline.
• In Fig., tracer particle 1 was released at an
earlier time than tracer particle 2, and so
on. The location of an individual tracer
particle is determined by the surrounding
velocity field from the moment of its
injection into the flow until the present
time.
• If the flow is unsteady, the surrounding
velocity field changes, and we cannot expect
the resulting streakline to resemble a
streamline or pathline at any given instant in
time.
• However, if the flow is steady, streamlines,
pathlines, and streaklines are identical (Car
fig.).
Difference between Streakline, Pathline & Streamline
• Streaklines are often confused with
streamlines or pathlines.

• While the three flow patterns are identical in

steady flow, they can be quite different in
unsteady flow.

• The main difference is that a streamline

represents an instantaneous flow pattern at a
given instant in time, while a streakline and
a pathline are flow patterns that have some
age and thus a time history associated with
them.
Schematic illustrating the difference
• A streakline is an instantaneous snapshot of between streaklines and pathlines in
a time integrated flow pattern. unsteady flow.

• A pathline, on the other hand, is the time-

exposed flow path of an individual particle over
some time period.
Difference between Streakline, Pathline & Streamline
• The flow upstream of the
cylinder is steady. However, in
the wake a Karman vortex
street develops that is
unsteady.
• (A) Flow visualized with
material lines consisting of
illuminated hydrogen bubbles.
• (B) The same flow visualized
with pathlines that are
coincident with streaklines
upstream of the cylinder
where the flow is steady.
• Because the flow downstream
of the cylinder is unsteady,
these are no longer pathlines
but still are considered to be
streaklines.
 Difference between Streakline, Pathline & Streamline

• Since the flow is unsteady, the

streamlines, pathlines, and streaklines are
not coincident. In fact, they differ
significantly from each other.
• Note that the streaklines and pathlines are
wavy due to the undulating v-component
of velocity.
• The streamlines have no such waviness
since they have no time history; they
represent an instantaneous snapshot of the
velocity field.

Streamlines, pathlines, and streaklines for the

oscillating velocity field. The streaklines and
pathlines are wavy because of their
integrated time history, but the streamlines
are not wavy since they represent an
instantaneous snapshot of the velocity field.
Timelines
• A timeline is a set of adjacent fluid particles that were marked at the same (earlier)
instant in time.
• A timeline is a set of fluid particles that form a line segment at a given instant of
time. (A timeline is an integrated pattern.)
• For example, consider simple shear flow between parallel plates. A timeline follows
the location of a line of fluid particles. A timeline represents an integrated flow
pattern, since the time line continually distorts with time, as shown in the sketch.
Notice the no-slip condition in action. The top of the time line moves with the top
plate, i.e. at velocity V to the right. The bottom of the timeline, however, stays in
the same location at all times, because the bottome plate is not moving.
Refractive Flow Visualization Techniques
• The speed of light through one material may differ somewhat from that in another
material, or even in the same material if its density changes. As light travels
through one fluid into a fluid with a different index of refraction, the light
rays bend (they are refracted).
• There are two primary flow visualization techniques that utilize the fact that
the index of refraction in air (or other gases) varies with density.
• They are the shadowgraph technique and the schlieren technique
• All these techniques are useful for flow visualization in flow fields where
density changes from one location in the flow to another, such as natural
convection flows (temperature differences cause the density variations),
mixing flows (fluid species cause the density variations), and supersonic flows
(shock waves and expansion waves cause the density variations).

Shock wave formation at

high speed
Refractive Flow Visualization Techniques…
• Unlike flow visualizations involving streaklines, pathlines,
and timelines, the shadowgraph and schlieren methods do
not require injection of a visible tracer (smoke or dye).
• Rather, density differences and the refractive property of
light provide the necessary means for visualizing
regions of activity in the flow field, allowing us to “see
the invisible.”
• The image (a shadowgram) produced by the shadowgraph
method is formed when the refracted rays of light
rearrange the shadow cast onto a viewing screen or
camera focal plane, causing bright or dark patterns to
appear in the shadow.
• The dark patterns indicate the location where the refracted Shadowgram of a sphere in free
rays originate, while the bright patterns mark where these flight through air at Ma = 3.0. A
rays end up, and can be misleading. As a result, the dark shock wave is clearly visible in the
regions are less distorted than the bright regions and shadow as a dark band that
are more useful in the interpretation of the shadowgram. curves around the sphere and is
called a bow wave.

• In the shadowgram of Fig., for example, we can be confident of the shape and position of
the bow shock wave (the dark band), but the refracted bright light has distorted the front
of the sphere’s shadow.
Refractive Flow Visualization Techniques…
• A shadowgram is not a true optical image;
it is, after all, merely a shadow. A schlieren
image, however, involves lenses (or mirrors)
and a knife edge or other cutoff device to
block the refracted light and is a true
focused optical image. Schlieren imaging is
more complicated to set up than is
shadowgraphy but has a number of
advantages.
• For example, a schlieren image does not
suffer from optical distortion by the refracted
light rays. Schlieren imaging is also more
sensitive to weak density gradients such as
those caused by natural convection or by
gradual phenomena like expansion fans in
supersonic flow.

• Color schlieren imaging techniques have also been developed. Finally, one can adjust
more components in a schlieren setup, such as the location, orientation, and type of the
cutoff device, in order to produce an image that is most useful for the problem at hand.
 Difference in shadowgraph and Schlieren set-up

A basic
shadowgraphy
set-up

A typical lens-
based schlieren
optics system

A parallel beam of light, emanating from a light source B and passing through slit O is focused by lens L1. This
parallel beam is then deflected by the schlieren test subject E and passed through a second lens L2 , where it is
focused on the knife-edge cut-off K. Lenses L2 and L3 (a projection lens) focus the schlieren image onto a screen
or photographic sensor, depicted as H
Surface Flow Visualization Techniques
• The direction of fluid flow immediately
above a solid surface can be visualized
with tufts—short, flexible strings glued to
the surface at one end that point in the flow
direction.
• Tufts are especially useful for locating regions
of flow separation, where the flow direction
suddenly reverses.
• A technique called surface oil visualization
can be used for the same purpose—oil
placed on the surface forms streaks that
indicate the direction of flow.

Tufts on aircraft wing

Surface Flow Visualization Techniques…

• If it rains lightly when your car is

dirty (especially in the winter when
salt is on the roads), you may have
noticed streaks along the hood and
sides of the car, or even on the
windshield.

• This is similar to what is observed

with surface oil visualization.

• Figure shows formation of water film,

separation etc. on the surface of a car
Wind tunnel results showing formation of
water film on the front of an Audi car.
Surface Flow Visualization Techniques…
• The figure shows two flow visualization
techniques, tufts and surface oil flows. The
low speed inlet shown in the photo uses tufts,
on the yellow external surfaces. Colored oil
flows are used on the silver internal surfaces
to visualize the flow down the duct. Surface
oil is applied as small dabs of oil at some
upstream location. The oil is treated with a
flourescent dye or pigment. The thickness of
the oil can be modulated using naptha or 60-
70W oil. As the air flows over the model, the
oil is carried downstream in long streaks.

Aircraft
• A variety of pigments aid in flow visualization. Flourescent pigment can be illuminated
with a black light for greater visibility with photography.
• Surface oil flows will indicate the boundary of a flow separation since the oil cannot
penetrate the separation boundary. In the photo, a separation is present inside the inlet
at the corner of the inlet and forebody. Because of the variation in skin friction between
a laminar and a turbulent boundary layer, surface oil treated with napthalin can be used
to determine the transition point on a model. Oil downstream of the transition point will
be swept away.