DimensionalAnalysisandSimilarity

Dimensionalanalysisisveryusefulforplanning,presentation,andinterpretationofexperimentaldata.
Asdiscussedpreviously,mostpracticalfluidmechanicsproblemsaretoocomplextosolveanalytically
andmustbetestedbyexperimentorapproximatedbycomputationalfluiddynamics(CFD).Thesedata
havemuchmoregeneralityiftheyareexpressedincompact,economicnondimensionalform.
Dimensionalanalysisisamethodforreducingthenumberandcomplexityofexperimentalvariablesthat
affectagivenphysicalphenomena.

Advantagesofdimensionalanalysis
1) Reduce the number of variables: Suppose the force F on a particular body shape immersed in a
streamoffluiddependsonlyonthebodylengthL,velocityV,fluiddensity andviscosity :
, , ,

Ingeneral,ittakesabout10pointstodefineacurve.Tofindtheeffectsofeachparameterontheforce,
weneedtoperform10X10X10X10=104tests!However,usingdimensionalanalysis,wecanreducethe
parameterstoonlyone:

Thatis,thenondimensionalforceisafunctionofthedimensionlessparameterReynoldsnumber.So,
wedonothavetovaryL,V, , separatelybutonlythegrouping
/ .Thiscanbedonebyvarying
velocityVinthewindtunnelorwaterchannel.
2) Nondimensional equations: that will provide insight on controlling parameters and the nature of
theproblem.
3) Scalinglaws:thatallowstestingmodelsinsteadofexpensivelargefullscaleprototypes.Thereare
rules for finding scaling laws or conditions of similarity. In our force example, if the similarity
conditionexists:

Thenonecanwrite:

wheresubscriptsmandpindicatemodelandprototype,respectively.Thisequationisthescalinglaw:if
youmeasurethemodelforceatthemodelReynoldsnumber,theprototypeforceatthesameReynolds
numberequalsthemodelforcetimesthedensityratiotimesthevelocityratiosquaredtimesthelength
ratiosquared.

Principle of dimensional homogeneity: in a dimensionally homogenous relationship for a physical

process,eachtermwillhavethesamedimensions.Asanexample,considertheBernoullisequation:

2
Eachterm,includingtheconstant,hasdimensionsofvelocitysquared[L2T2].

Variablesandscalingparameters
The variables are the things we wish to plot, the basic output of the experiment or theory. The
parametersarethosequantitieswhoseeffectsonthevariableswewishtoknow.Forexample,consider
therelationthatexpressesthedisplacementofafallingbody:
1

2
To nondimensionalize our results, we need to know how many dimensions are contained among our
variables(S,t)andparameters(V0,S0,andg);inthiscaseonlytwo,length{L}andtime{T}:
{S}={S0}={L}{t}={T}{V0}={LT1}{g}={LT2}
Among our parameters, we therefore select two to be scaling parameters (or repeating parameters),
used to define dimensionless variables. For the fallingbody problem, we select any two of the three
parameterstobescalingparameters,thuswehavethreechoices:
Option1:ScalingparametersS0andV0;theeffectofgravityg.Usingthesescalingparameters,wedefine
nondimensionaldisplacementandtimeas:

Substituting these variables into the fallingbody equation, after simplifications, we find the non
dimensionalequation:
1
where

1
2

There is a single dimensionless parameter . Note that this plot cannot show the effect of S0 and V0
sincetheyarehiddenintheordinateandabscissa.
Option 2: Scaling parameters V0 and g: the effect of initial displacement S0. The nondimensional
parameterswillbe:

M.BahramiFluidMechanics(S09)DimensionalAnalysisandSimilarity2

Substituting these variables into the fallingbody equation, after simplifications, we find the non
dimensionalequation:
1
2

where

Thesamesingleparameterappearsagain.

Option3:ScalingparameterS0andg:theeffectofinitialspeedV0.Usingthescalingparameters
dimensionlessdisplacementandtimecanbefound:

Substituting these variables into the fallingbody equation, after simplifications, we find the non
dimensionalequation:
1
2

1
where

Note that, in all three options, the same parameters appears but has a different meaning:
dimensionlessgravity,initialdisplacement,andinitialvelocity.So,ingeneral,onecanwrite:
,

M.BahramiFluidMechanics(S09)DimensionalAnalysisandSimilarity3

Theselectionofscalingparametersislefttotheuser,buttherearesomeguidelines:
1) Thescalingvariablesmustnotformadimensionlessgroupamongthemselves,butaddingonemore
variablewillformadimensionlessquantity.Forexample,intheabovefluidflowproblem,testthe
powersof , ,
:
0
2) Donotselectoutputvariablesforyourscalingparameters.
3) Ifconvenient,selectpopular,notobscure,scalingvariablesbecausetheywillappearinallofyour
dimensionlessgroups.Forexample,selectdensitynotsurfacetension.
Note: the two following criteria must be satisfied before performing dimensional analysis: 1) the
proposed physical relation is dimensionally homogenous, and 2) all the relevant variables have been
includedintheproposedrelation.

ThePitheorem
The Buckingham theorem is a key theorem in dimensional analysis. This provides a method for
computingsetsofdimensionlessparametersfromthegivenvariables,eveniftheformoftheequation
isstillunknown.However,thechoiceofdimensionlessparametersisnotunique:Buckingham'stheorem
only provides a way of generating sets of dimensionless parameters, and will not choose the most
'physicallymeaningful'.
Let , , , bendimensionalvariablesthatarephysicallyrelevantinagivenproblemandthat
are interrelated by an (unknown) dimensionally homogeneous set of equations. These can be
expressedviaafunctionalrelationshipoftheform:
,

Ifkisthenumberoffundamentaldimensionsrequiredtodescribethenvariables,thentherewillbek
primary variables and the remaining j = k n variables can be expressed as n k dimensionless and
. The functional relationship can thus be
independent quantities or Pi groups , , ,
reducedtothemuchmorecompactform:
, , ,

, ,

Note:thissetofnondimensionalparametersisnotunique.Theyarehoweverindependentandforma
completeset.
Application:
1)Clearlydefinetheproblemandthinkaboutwhichvariablesareimportant.Identifywhichisthemain
.Itisimportanttophysicallythinkabouttheproblem.Are
, ,
variableofinterest,i.e.,
thereanyconstrains,i.e.canIvaryallthesevariablesindependently?Forexample,weightofanobject
(onlytwooftheseareindependent,unlessgisalsovariable).

M.BahramiFluidMechanics(S09)DimensionalAnalysisandSimilarity4

2)Expresseachofnvariablesintermsofitsfundamentaldimensions,{MLT}or{FLT}.Itisoftenuseful
touseonesystemtosolvetheproblem,andthen checkthatgroupsyouobtainaredimensionlessby
convertingtoothersystem.
3) Determine the number of Pi groups, j = n k variables, where k is the number of reference
dimensionsandselectkprimaryorrepeatingvariables.Typicallypickvariableswhichcharacterizethe
fluidproperties,flowgeometry,flowrate
4)Formjdimensionlessgroupsandcheckthattheyareallindeeddimensionless.
5) Express result in form
interpretyourresultphysically!

where contains the quantity of interest and

, ,

6)Makesurethatyourgroupsareindeedindependent;i.e.canIvaryoneandkeepothersconstant?
7)Comparewithexperimentaldata!
Example1:
Usethepitheoremtofindthedimensionlessparametersinthedragproblem.
, , ,

Nondimenalizationofthebasicequations
Anotherusefulapplicationofpitheoremisapplicationtothebasic(governing)equations.Eventhough
these equationscannotbesolvedingeneral,they willreveal basicdimensionlessparameters,suchas
Reynoldsnumber,intheirproperformandproperposition,givingclueswhentheyarenegligible.
Considerincompressiblesteadyflowgoverningequations:
.

Withboundaryconditions.TheseequationscontainthethreebasicdimensionsM,L,andT.Allvariables
p,V,x,y,z,andtcanbenondimensionalizedbyusingdensityandtworeferenceconstantsthatmight
becharacteristicoftheparticularfluidflow:
Referencevelocity=UReferencelength(orcharacteristicslength)=L
Asanexample,UcanbetheinletorupstreamvelocityandLthediameterofabodyimmersedinthe
stream.Wecandefinealldimensionlessvariables:

M.BahramiFluidMechanics(S09)DimensionalAnalysisandSimilarity5

Note that for the pressure, we considered the piezometeric pressure, assuming that z is up (Bernoulli
equation).Since , ,
areconstants,thederivativesinthegoverningequationscanallbehandled
indimensionlessform,forexample:

Aftersubstitutionandsimplifications,weobtain:
.

Theboundaryconditionsshouldalsobenondimensionalizedinasimilarmanner.

NondimensionalParameters
The continuity equation contains no parameter; however, the momentum (NavierStokes) equation
revealstheReynoldsnumber:

TheReynoldsnumberisalwaysimportant,withorwithoutafreesurface,andcanbeneglectedonlyin
flowregionsawayfromhighvelocitygradients,e.g.awayfromsolidsurfaces,jetsorwakes.
Eulernumber(pressurecoefficient)israrelyimportantunlessthepressuredropslowenoughtocause
vaporformation(cavitation)inaliquid:

Froude number is the dominant effect in freesurface flows and it does not appear if there is no free
surface:

Machnumberhasastrongeffectoncompressibleflowpropertiesifitisgreaterthan0.3:

whereaisthespeedofsoundinthefluid.

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Table 52, in the textbook, provides a comprehensive list of important dimensionless groups in fluid
mechanics.

Modelinganditspitfalls
Performing scale analysis is mathematically straightforward; however, there are several issues to
consider:
1)Wetookforgrantedtheimportantvariablesforthephenomena.Selectionofimportantvariablesis
notatrivialtaskandrequiresconsiderablejudgmentandexperience.Notethateachextrapigroupthat
isretainedincreasestheexpenseandeffortandlevelofcomplexityofthesolution.
2)TypicallytheReynoldsnumberofthemodelistoosmall(byafactorof10to1000).Asaresult,we
endupestimatingthedesiredhighReynoldsnumberprototypedata,byextrapolatingthemodeldatain
low Re, as shown in Fig.1. This may result in high uncertainty in the analysis; but there is no other
practicalalternativeinhydraulicmodeltesting.

Fig.1:Reynoldsnumberextrapolation.
3)Afterselectingimportantparametersanddeterminingpigroups,weshouldseektoachievesimilarity
betweenthemodeltestedandtheprototypetobedesigned.Ingeneral:
Flow conditions for a model test are completely similar if all relevant dimensionless parameters have
thesamecorrespondingvaluesforthemodelandtheprototype.
Establishingcompletesimilarityishighlyunlikely.Therefore,weseekparticulartypesofsimilarity.
Geometricsimilarity:concernsthelengthdimension{L}andmustbeensuredbeforeanymodeltesting
canproceed.Ingeneralgeometricalsimilarityisestablishedwhen:
Amodelandprototypearegeometricallysimilarif andonlyif allbody dimensions inall3 coordinates
havethesamelinearscaleratio.
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Thismeansalltheangles,flowdirections,andtheorientationsofmodelandprototypewithrespectto
surroundingsmustbeidentical.

Fig.2:Geometricsimilarityinmodeltesting.
Kinematicsimilarity:requiresthatthemodelandprototypehavethesamelengthscaleratioandthe
sametimescaleratio;thusthevelocityscaleratiowillbethesameforboth.
Length scale equivalence simply implies geometric similarity, but time scale equivalence may require
additionaldynamicconsiderationssuchasequivalenceoftheReynoldsandMachnumbers.

Fig.3:FreesurfaceflowsarekinematicallysimilarwithlengthandtimescalesrelatedbytheFroude
number.
Frictionless flows with a free surface, see Fig. 3, are kinematically similar if their Froude numbers are
equal:
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If

whereisadimensionlessratio,thevelocityscalebecomes:

Dynamic similarity: exists when the model and the prototype have the same length scale ratio, time
scaleratio,andtheforcescale(massscale)ratio.
Dynamicsimilarityexists,simultaneouslywithkinematicsimilarity,ifthemodelandprototypeforceand
pressurecoefficientsareidentical.Thisisestablishedif:
1) For compressible flow, the model and prototype Reynolds number and Mach number and specific
heatratioarecorrespondinglyequal.
2)Forincompressibleflow
a)Withnofreesurface:modelandprototypeReynoldsnumbersareequal.
b) With a free surface: model and prototype Reynolds number, Froude number, and (if
necessary)Webernumberandcavitationnumberarecorrespondinglyequal.

Fig.4:dynamicsimilarityinsluicegateflow.Modelandprototypeyieldidenticalhomologousforce
polygonsiftheReynoldsandFroudenumbersarethesamecorrespondingly.

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