Flow Around Immersed Objects

Incompressible Flow
Goals
Describe forces that act on a particle in a fluid.
Define and quantify the drag coefficient for
spherical and non-spherical objects in a flow
field.
Define Stokes and Newtons Laws for flow
around spheres.
Flow Around Objects
There are many processes that involve flow through a
porous medium such as a suspension of particles:
Packed Bed Chemical Reactor
Food Industry
Oil Reservoirs
Forces
Dynamic
F
k
results from the relative motion
of the object and the fluid (shear
stress)
Static
F
s
results from external pressure
gradient (F
p
) and gravity (F
g
).

+ + = =
p g k
F F F F M M
1 2

Dynamic Forces
A drag force (friction) arises in situations in which
moving fluids are in contact with a solid surface (recall
pipe flow.
F
w
is the kinetic force exerted on the solid wall or
particle, A is the wetted surface area, K is the kinetic
energy per unit volume, and f is the friction factor.
K
A F
f
w
=
( ) 2
2
V
w

t
=
head velocity density
shear wall
f

=
Dynamic Forces
For flow around a submerged object a drag coefficient
C
d
is defined and the equation becomes:
2
2
0
u A C
F
d
k

=
U
0
is the approach velocity (far from the object), is
the density of the fluid, A is the projected area of the
particle, and C
d
is the drag coefficient analogous to
the friction factor in pipe flow (keep this in mind).
Projected Area
The projected area used in the F
k
is the area seen by
the fluid.
Spherical Particle
= A
4
2
2
D
R
t
t =
Projected Area
Cylinder
For objects having shapes other than spherical, it is
necessary to specify the size, geometry and orientation
relative to the direction of flow.
Axis perpendicular to flow Rectangle LD A=
Axis parallel to flow Circle
4
2
D
A
t
=
Drag Coefficient
The drag coefficient, like the friction factor in pipes
depends on the Reynolds number

0
Du
Re =
D is particle diameter or a characteristic length and
and are fluid properties.
Drag Coefficient
For slow flow around a sphere and Re<1

0
24 24
Du Re
C
d
= =
Recall:
2
2
0
u A C
F
d
k

=
0
3 Du F
k
t =
Stokes Law for Creeping Flow Around Sphere
Drag Coefficient
Re C Re
d
24 10 = <
44 . 0 1000 = >
d
C Re
Why Different Regions?
As the flow rate increases wake drag becomes an important
factor. The streamline pattern becomes mixed at the rear of
the particle and at very high Reynolds numbers completely
separate in the wake. This causes a greater pressure at the
front of the particle and thus an extra force term due to
pressure difference.
Static Forces
Static forces exist in the absence of fluid motion. They
include the downward force of gravity and the upward
force of buoyancy that results from the gravity induced
pressure gradient in the z-direction
g V g m F
p p p g
= =
1
P
gh P P
f
+ =
1 2
( ) ( )
g V
gh A P P A F
f p
f b

=
= =
1 2
b
F |
g
F +
Total Force
The gravity and buoyancy forces on an object immersed
in liquids do not generally balance each other and the
object will be in motion.
b g k t
F F F F + + =
b
F |
g
F +
What is the direction of F
k
?
It is always opposite to the direction of
particle motion
Equilibrium
When a particle whose density is greater than that of the
fluid begins to fall in response to the force imbalance, it
begins to accelerate (F=ma). As the velocity increases
the viscous drag force also increases until all forces are in
balance. At this point the particle reaches terminal
velocity.
b g k
F F F + + = 0
g V g m
u
A C F
f p p
t
f p d
+ = =

2
0
2
Terminal Velocity
If the particle has a uniform density , the particle
mass is V
p

p
and
( )g V
u
A C
g f p
t
f p d
+ =
2
0
2
( )
f d
p f p
t
C
D g
u

3
4
=
Use: Falling ball viscometer to measure viscosity
( )
f d p
p f p
t
C
m g
u


3
2
=
Settling Velocity
The settling (terminal) velocity of small particles is
often low enough that the Reynolds number is less
than unity (C
d
= 24/Re).
( )

18
2
g D
u
f p p
t

=
1 < Re
Between 1000<Re<200,000 C
d
= 0.44 Newtons Law applies
( )
f
f p p
t
gD
u

= 75 . 1
f t p k
u D F t
2 2
055 . 0 =
Note: Intermediate flow requires iteration
Criterion for Settling Regime
Reynolds number is a poor criteria for determining the
proper regime for settling. We can derive a value K that
depends solely on the physical parameters
( )
3 1
2
(

f p f
p
g
D K
K < 2.6 Stokes Law
Newtons Law K > 68.9
Example
A cylindrical bridge pier 1 meter in diameter is submerged
to a depth of 10m in a river at 20C. Water is flowing past
at a velocity of 1.2 m/s. Calculate the force in Newtons on
the pier.
s m kg x
m kg
water
water
=
=
3
3
10 005 . 1
2 . 998

s m u 2 . 1
0
=
Example
2
2
0
u A C
F
d
k

=
6
3
3
0
10 192 . 1
10 005 . 1
1 2 . 1 2 . 998
=


= =

s m kg
m s m m kg D u
Re

Fig. 7.3 gives C

d
0.35
Projected Area = DL = 10 m
2

( ) N
s
m
m
kg
m F
k
515 , 2 2 . 1 2 . 998 10
2
35 . 0
2
2
2
3
2
= =
Example
Estimate the terminal velocity of limestone particles
(D
p
= 0.15 mm, = 2800 kg/m
3
) in water @ 20C.
Example
( )
9 . 3
10 005 . 1
2 . 998 2800 2 . 998 98 . 9
10 5 . 1
3 1
2
3
3 3 2
4
=
(
(
(
(

|
.
|

\
|

s m
kg
m
kg
m
kg
s
m
m K
Guess Re = 4 C
d
= 9.0
( )
s
m
m
kg
m
m
kg
s
m
u
t
02 . 0
2 . 998 0 . 9 3
10 5 . 1 2 . 998 2800 8 . 9 4
3
4
3 2
=


=

3
10 005 . 1
02 . 0 2 . 998 10 5 . 1
3
3 4
=


=

s m kg
s m m kg m
Re
Example
Guess Re = 2 C
d
= 15
U
0
= 0.015 m/s
Re = 2.3
Guess Re = 2.5 C
d
= 12
U
0
= 0.017 m/s Re = 2.6