Home > Metrics and the Basics of Fluid Flow

Metrics and the Basics of Fluid Flow

Computational uid dynamics simulations yield design insights, and allow faster design iteration, without
needing as many physical prototypes. Regardless of how you test and optimize your design,
understanding the basics of uid mechanics is essential.

The Math Behind CFD

Truly understanding uid ows has perplexed people for millennia. Although Archimedes began
mathematically describing aspects of uid mechanics in 250 BC, the governing equations are still
somewhat poorly understood. With the complex math involved, it remains essentially impossible to
predict uid behavior by hand for all but the most basic situations.

Because of this complexity, designers often rely on experimental set-ups like physical prototypes and
wind tunnels. While these methods are generally useful, they are often very expensive and can be
limited in the type of results they provide. Computational uid dynamics simulations yield design
insights, and allow faster design iteration, without needing as many physical prototypes. Regardless of
how you test and optimize your design, understanding the basics of uid mechanics is essential.
 [1]

Testing this cooling system for an airport would likely be unfeasible without CFD

The mathematical understanding of uid dynamic principles is beyond the scope of this website, and is
best achieved through a dedicated university-level class. Additionally, for some applications, a strong
knowledge of heat transfer may be necessary. If you would like to explore these topics the math is
discussed in depth both on the Autodesk WikiHelp pages [2] and at cfd-online.com [3]. You will especially
want to acquaint yourself with the Navier-Stokes equations [4], which are the governing equations that
describe the motion of uid ows.

The Concepts Behind Fluid Mechanics

We will however cover the basics metrics of CFD, specically velocity, pressure, density, and others
which can all be used to develop an appropriate design. Additionally, the dierence between laminar
and turbulent ow is of great importance in many applications.

Velocity
Velocity is the rate of change of position of an object or particle, or mathematically v = d/t. Velocity is
a vector quantity, meaning that it has both direction and magnitude. In other words, velocity describes
both how quickly an object is moving, as well as the direction in which it is moving. These vectors can be
graphically represented in a vector eld [5], which is a very useful and intuitive tool for visualizing uid
ows.
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A portion of the vector eld (sin y, sin x) (wikicommons [7])

Pressure
Another key aspect of uids is their pressure. As in solid mechanics pressure is the ratio or force to area,
or mathematically p = F/A. Fluid pressure can be found at any point in a uid, but may be a bit less
intuitive, however.

In uids, there are two situations that aect pressure dierently. The rst is known as static pressure. An
example is open channel ow. This is essentially ow that is not fully bounded by solid constraints and
has negligible velocity. For example, the very slow ow of water through a canal is open channel ow.
The mathematics for this are fairly complicated, but for incompressible uids (such as water) with
constant density, the pressure of an open channel ow can be approximated by the hydrostatic pressure,
which is calculated as p = gh+p_atm. This says that the pressure at any point in the uid is
proportional to the depth. It is simply the density of the uid times the acceleration of gravity times the
distance below the surface all added to the atmospheric pressure. This also means that the increase in
pressure from the uid is linear as you descend through the uid. If you double your depth, you double
your static pressure; if you triple your depth you triple your pressure, etc., excluding the atmospheric
pressure.

The other kind of uid pressure occurs in moving ow, such as in a gas line or a pipe. For simple ows,
include the dynamic pressure of the ow, or the pressure created by the movement of the uid itself.
The dynamic pressure of a uid is given as p = (1/2)v^2. From this we can get the entire pressure of
the uid at any given point as p = p_atm + gh + (1/2)v^2. However, this only accounts for ideal
uids, which have no viscosity and are only theoretical. In real life, uid pressure in a pipe is aected by
many other aspects, such as the eects of friction and viscosity. The mathematics that describe this are
even more complicated, and will not be discussed here. Thankfully, CFD takes into account these
additional aspects and calculates accurate pressure in complicated ows.

Density
Density is simply the amount of mass in a given volume. This is given mathematically as = m/V.
Additionally, for an ideal gas [8], which is a good approximation of many gases under normal
conditions, you may calculate pressure (P) as the product of density (), the specic gas constant [9] (R),
and temperature (T). This law is known as known as the ideal gas law [10] and is written P =
*R_specic*T. From this we can see that as temperature increases the density decreases, while as
external pressure increases density increases.

Often, densities will be are quoted at STP, meaning standard temperature and pressure. Dierent
scientic bodies unfortunately sometimes use slightly dierent temperatures and pressures for their
measurements, so these should be checked to ensure consistency.

It is also important to note that the density of a uid (especially gasses) may be strongly aected by
external pressure. For example, pumping up a bicycle tire greatly increases the density of the air in the
tire, as signicantly more air is contained in the same volume. Some uids are known as incompressible,
meaning that changes in pressure do not aect their density. Examples of incompressible uids are
water and hydraulic oil. For example, no matter how hard you push on water it does not compress. In
fact it is possible to break steel connecting rods in an engine by getting water in the cylinders, which
doesnt compress and instead bends or breaks the connecting rod in a situation known as hydrolock [11].
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The power of incompressible uids (wikicommons [13])

Steady State vs. Transient Flow

Simply put, the dierence between a steady state ow and a transient ow is that steady state ow will
not change if the conditions remain the same, while a transient ow will. The denition of not changing
means that no aspects of the ow eld will change and that pressure will remain constant, among other
considerations. It is quite possible for a transient ow to settle into a regular pattern, but this is not
considered a steady state ow. One example of this kind of transient ow is known as a von Krmn
vortex street [14]. The Autodesk Simulation Workshop has videos on setting up both steady state
[15] and transient ow models [16].

Many engineering problems attempt to optimize steady ows, such as the ow of air through a pipe.
However, there are some very important and interesting unsteady ows in nature, such as aeroelastic
utter [17], which is strong enough to bring down bridges but may also be used for future energy
generation.
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The collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge was due to aeroelastic utter (wikicommons [19])

Laminar vs. Turbulent Flow

In the most basic terms, laminar ow can be thought of as being smooth, while turbulent ow can be
thought of as chaotic. More specically, laminar ow is when a uid ows as streamlines that do not
mix or dissolve into a complex jumble. The term turbulence lacks a clear, concise, and agreed-upon
denition, although it is generally easy to identify. Turbulence is the condition of chaotic looking uid
ow that changes drastically given even small perturbations. It is unknown if turbulent ow is truly
random due to some open mathematical questions, although it is suspected [20] that turbulence is in fact
a unique result of the underlying uid equations and inputs (that is to say that the equations and inputs
could theoretically be used to exactly solve for turbulence). Unfortunately, as turbulent ow is extremely
sensitive to minute changes in boundary conditions it may not ever be calculable for real-life situations.
Despite this, turbulent ow can be modeled to nd a statistical average behavior which is useful in many
situations.
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A beautiful example of turbulent ow (wikicommons [22])

It is important to understand that most physical ows in engineering applications are turbulent. The
threshold between laminar and turbulent is quite low. That is to say that ows often transition to
turbulence easily and often at very low ow rates. Also, turbulent ow can appear to have streamlines
that are not jumbled, but because of the ow velocity, the ow is turbulent.

Another way to characterize turbulence is by how much energy it transports. Turbulent ow is generally
much more energetic, and can transfer more heat than laminar ow. Additionally, it generally has more
favorable aerodynamic properties, and designers often induce turbulence to reduce drag. An example is
the ow over a golf ball. The dimples serve to induce turbulence so that the ow stays close to more of
the ball. If the ow was laminar, it would separate sooner, and the wake would be bigger. Turbulence
causes the wake to be smaller, which reduces drag, which allows the ball to y further. However, in
certain cases turbulence can cause serious aerodynamic problems. For example, if a wing ies through
the air at too high of an angle ow separation will occur, resulting in a turbulent region behind the wing
and causing the wing to lose lift and stall.
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A turbulent region behind a wing, resulting in greatly reduced lift and increased drag
(wikicommons [24])

Compressible vs. Incompressible Flow and More

For many other denitions of uid ow attributes please refer to this Autodesk WikiHelp
page on the subject [25]. It gives good information on a variety of topics that are out of the
scope of this website, including such areas as bondary layer ow and many thermal areas of
interest.

Source URL: http://auworkshop.autodesk.com/library/sim-workows-sust/metrics-and-basics-uid-ow?language=en

Links
[1]
http://auworkshop.autodesk.com/sites/default/les/styles/large/public/core-page-inserted-images/airport_cooling.png?lang
uage=en
[2]
http://wikihelp.autodesk.com/Simulation_CFD/enu/2013/Help/0407-Learning407/0828-Theoreti828#GUID-B737967D-DF1E-
4A7E-AAED-CFD7FD41D0CD
[3] http://www.cfd-online.com/Wiki/Fluid_dynamics
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navier%E2%80%93Stokes_equations
[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vector_eld
[6]
http://auworkshop.autodesk.com/sites/default/les/styles/large/public/core-page-inserted-images/600px-vectoreld.svg_.p
ng?language=en
[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:VectorField.svg&page=1
[8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideal_gas
[9] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specic_gas_constant#Specic_gas_constant
[10] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideal_gas_law
[11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrolock
[12]
http://auworkshop.autodesk.com/sites/default/les/styles/large/public/core-page-inserted-images/450px-bent_connecting_r
od_1.jpg?language=en
[13] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bent_connecting_rod_1.JPG
[14] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%A1rm%C3%A1n_vortex_street
[15] http://engineeringexploration.autodesk.com/content/module-4-steady-ow#vid348
[16] http://engineeringexploration.autodesk.com/content/module-5-unsteady-ow#vid349
[17] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroelastic_utter#Flutter
[18]
http://auworkshop.autodesk.com/sites/default/les/styles/large/public/core-page-inserted-images/tacomanarrowsbridgecoll
apse_in_color.jpg?language=en
[19] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TacomaNarrowsBridgeCollapse_in_color.jpg
[20] http://www.cfd-online.com/Wiki/Introduction_to_turbulence/Nature_of_turbulence#What_is_turbulence.3F
[21]
http://auworkshop.autodesk.com/sites/default/les/styles/large/public/core-page-inserted-images/turbulence.jpg?language
=en
[22] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jet.jpg
[23]
http://auworkshop.autodesk.com/sites/default/les/styles/large/public/core-page-inserted-images/ow_separation.jpg?lang
uage=en
[24] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flow_separation.jpg
[25] http://wikihelp.autodesk.com/Simulation_CFD/enu/2013/Help/0407-Learning407/0828-Theoreti828/0829-Fluid_Fl829

Published on Autodesk University Workshop (http://auworkshop.autodesk.com)