Flow Classification

9. 26. 2016

Hyunse Yoon, Ph.D.

Associate Research Scientist

IIHR-Hydroscience & Engineering
 1. One-, Two-, and Three-dimensional Flow

• A flow is said to be one-, two-, or three-dimensional if the flow velocity varies in one,
two, or three primary dimensions, respectively. For example,
1D: 𝑉𝑉 = 𝑢𝑢 𝑦𝑦 𝒊𝒊̂ or 𝑉𝑉 = 𝑢𝑢𝑟𝑟 𝒆𝒆� 𝒓𝒓
2D: 𝑉𝑉 = 𝑢𝑢 𝑥𝑥, 𝑦𝑦 𝒊𝒊̂ + 𝑣𝑣 𝑥𝑥, 𝑦𝑦 𝒋𝒋̂ or 𝑉𝑉 = 𝑢𝑢𝑟𝑟 𝒆𝒆� 𝒓𝒓 + 𝑢𝑢𝜃𝜃 𝒆𝒆� 𝜽𝜽
�
3D: 𝑉𝑉 = 𝑢𝑢 𝑥𝑥, 𝑦𝑦, 𝑧𝑧 𝒊𝒊̂ + 𝑣𝑣 𝑥𝑥, 𝑦𝑦, 𝑧𝑧 𝒋𝒋̂ + 𝑤𝑤 𝑥𝑥, 𝑦𝑦, 𝑧𝑧 𝒌𝒌 or 𝑉𝑉 = 𝑢𝑢𝑟𝑟 𝒆𝒆� 𝒓𝒓 + 𝑢𝑢𝜃𝜃 𝒆𝒆� 𝜽𝜽 + 𝑢𝑢𝑧𝑧 𝒆𝒆� 𝒛𝒛

1D flow: Fully-developed laminar 2D flow: Converging duct flow 3D flow: Visualization of flow over
pipe flow a 15° delta wing at a 20° angle of
attack at a Reynolds number of
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 2. Steady vs. Unsteady Flow

• The term steady implies no change at a point with time; the opposite of steady is
unsteady (Note: Uniform flow: No change with location over a specific region).
𝑉𝑉 = 𝑉𝑉(𝑥𝑥) Steady flow
𝑉𝑉 = 𝑉𝑉(𝑥𝑥, 𝑡𝑡) Unsteady flow
• During steady flow, fluid properties can change from point to point, but at any
fixed point they remain constant.

Oscillating wake of a blunt-based airfoil at Mach number 0.6. Photo (a) is an

instantaneous image (i.e., unsteady), while Photo (b) is a long-exposure (time-
averaged, i.e., steady) image.

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 3. Incompressible vs. Compressible Flow
• A flow is said to be incompressible if the density remains constant throughout.
Therefore, the volume of every portion of fluid remains unchanged over the
course of its motion when the flow (or the fluid) is incompressible.
𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷
=0 ⇒ imcompressilbe flow
𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷
• When analyzing rockets, spacecraft, and other
systems that involve high-speed gas flows, the flow
speed is often expressed in terms of the
dimensionless Mach number defined as

oMa < 0.3 Incompressible

oMa > 0.3 Compressible
oMa = 1 Sonic (commercial air craft Ma ∼ 0.8)
oMa > 1 Super-sonic U.S. Navy F/A-18 approaching the
sound barrier. The white cloud forms
• Ma is the most important non-dimensional parameter as a result of the supersonic
for compressible flows (See Chapter 7 Dimensional expansion fans dropping the air
Analysis). temperature below the dew point.

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 4. Viscous vs. Inviscid Flows

• Flows in which the frictional effects are significant are called viscous flows: The
flow viscosity µ≠0 and “Real-Flow Theory” which requires complex analysis,
often with no choice.
• However, in many flows of practical interest,
there are regions (typically regions not close
to solid surfaces) where viscous forces are
negligibly small compared to inertial or
pressure forces. Neglecting the viscous terms
(i.e., µ = 0) in such inviscid flow regions
greatly simplifies the analysis without much
loss in accuracy. (However, must decide when
this is a good approximation; D’ Alembert
paradox: CD = 0 for a body in steady motion!)

Illustration of the strong interaction between viscous and

inviscid regions in the rear of blunt-body flow: (a)
idealized and definitely false picture of the blunt-body
flow; (b) actual picture of blunt-body flow.
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 5. Rotational vs. Irrotational Flow
• Vorticity:
Ω = 𝛻𝛻 × 𝑉𝑉 = 0 Rotational flow
Ω=0 Irrotational flow
• If the vorticity at a point in a flow field is nonzero, the fluid particle that happens
to occupy that point in space is rotating; the flow in that region is called rotational.
• Likewise, if the vorticity in a region of the flow is zero (or negligibly small), fluid
particles there are not rotating; the flow in that region is called irrotational.
• Generation of vorticity usually is the result of viscosity, ∴ viscous flows are always
rotational, whereas inviscid flows are usually irrotational.
• Inviscid, irrotational, incompressible flow is referred to as ideal-flow theory.

The difference between rotational and

irrotational flow: fluid elements in a rotational
region of the flow rotate, but those in an
irrotational region of the flow do not.

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 6. Laminar vs. Turbulent Viscous Flows
• Laminar flow: Smooth orderly motion composed of thin sheets (i.e., laminas)
gliding smoothly over each other
• Turbulent flow: Disorderly high frequency fluctuations superimposed on main
motion. Fluctuations are visible as eddies which continuously mix, i.e., combine
and disintegrate (average size is referred to as the scale of turbulence).
• Reynolds decomposition
𝑢𝑢 = ⏟ 𝑢𝑢� + 𝑢𝑢⏟′
mean turbulent
motion fluctuation
Usually 𝑢𝑢′ is 0.01 ∼ 0.1 𝑢𝑢� , but its influence is as if 𝜇𝜇 increase by 100 – 10,000 times
or more.

Reynold’s sketches of pipe flow transition: (a)

low-speed, laminar flow; (b) high-speed,
turbulent flow.

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6. Laminar vs. Turbulent Viscous Flows – Contd.

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 7. Internal vs. External Flows

• Internal flows = completely wall bounded; Usually requires viscous analysis, except
near entrance (Chapter 8)
• External flows = unbounded; i.e., at some distance from body or wall flow is
uniform (Chapter 9, Surface Resistance)
• Internal flows are dominated by the influence of viscosity throughout the flow
field, whereas in external flows the viscous effects are limited to boundary layers
near solid surfaces and to wake regions downstream of bodies.

(a) External flow: boundary layer developing along the fuselage of an airplane and into the
wake, and (b) Internal flow: boundary layer growing on the wall of a diffuser.

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 7. Internal vs. External Flows – Contd.
- Flow Field Regions (high Re flows):
• External Flow exhibits flow-field regions such that both inviscid and viscous
analysis can be used depending on the body shape and Re.
• Important features:
1) low Re: viscous effects important throughout entire fluid domain: creeping motion
2) high Re flow about streamlined body: viscous effects confined to narrow region: boundary layer and
wake
3) high Re flow about bluff bodies: in regions of adverse pressure gradient flow is susceptible to
separation and viscous-inviscid interaction is important

Comparisons of flow past a sharp flat plate at a high Reynolds number. The boundary layer (BL)
divides the flow into two regions: the viscous region in which the frictional effects are
significant, and the inviscid region in which the frictional effects are negligible.
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 8. Separated vs. Unseparated Flow
• When a fluid is forced to flow over a curved surface, such as the back side of a
cylinder at sufficiently high velocity, the boundary layer can no longer remain
attached to the surface, and at some point it separates from the surface—a
process called flow separation.

• When a fluid separates from a body, it forms a

separated region between the body and the
fluid stream. The region of flow trailing the body
where the effects of the body on velocity are felt Flow separation during flow over a curved
surface
is called the wake.

The occurrence of separation is not limited to blunt

bodies. At large angles of attack (usually larger than
15°), flow may separate completely from the top
surface of an airfoil, reducing lift drastically and
causing the airfoil to stall.
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 Example 1: Stagnation Point Flow

• At stagnation point, the velocity magnitude becomes zero,

𝑉𝑉 = 𝑉𝑉 = 𝑢𝑢2 + 𝑣𝑣 2 = 0.5 + 0.8𝑥𝑥 2 + 1.5 − 0.8𝑦𝑦 2 =0

or
𝑢𝑢 = 0.5 + 0.8𝑥𝑥 = 0 → 𝑥𝑥 = −0.625 m
𝑣𝑣 = 1.5 − 0.8𝑦𝑦 = 0 → 𝑦𝑦 = 1.875 m

• The flow can be described as stagnation point flow in which flow

enters from the top and bottom and spreads out to the right and
left about a horizontal line of symmetry at 𝑦𝑦 = 1.875 m.
Velocity vectors for the given velocity field. The solid
black curves represent the approximate shapes of some
streamlines. The stagnation point is indicated by the
circle. The shaded region represents a portion of the flow 9/26/2016 12
field that can approximate flow into an inlet.
 Streamlines
• 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 a solid wall are easily identified by the streamline patter.
• Streamlines cannot be directly observed experimentally except in steady flow
fields, in which they are coincident with pathlines and streaklines.

• Equation for a streamline:

𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
= =
𝑢𝑢 𝑣𝑣 𝑤𝑤

• Streamline in the xy-plane:

𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑣𝑣
=
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 along 𝑢𝑢
a streamline
For two-dimensional flow in the xy-plane, arc length d𝑟𝑟⃗ =
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑, 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 along a streamline is everywhere tangent to the
local instantaneous velocity vector 𝑉𝑉 = 𝑢𝑢, 𝑣𝑣 .
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 Example 2: Streamline

We solve the streamline equation by separation of

variables,
�𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢𝑢 = �𝑣𝑣𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑

or, for the given velocity field 𝑢𝑢 = 1 + 𝑦𝑦 and 𝑣𝑣 = 1,

� 1 + 𝑦𝑦 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = � 1 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
Thus,
1
𝑦𝑦 + 𝑦𝑦 2 = 𝑥𝑥 + 𝐶𝐶
2
where, 𝐶𝐶 is a constant of integration. For the streamline
that goes through x=y=0, 𝐶𝐶 = 0. Hence,
Note that the direction of flow is upward
since 𝑣𝑣 > 0. 1
𝑥𝑥 = 𝑦𝑦 + 𝑦𝑦 2
2

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