KFUPM

ME 532-151

Viscous Fluid Flow

Ch1- Preliminary Concepts

Presented on 23/8/2015 by
Dr. R Ben-Mansour
 Historical Introduction

- Study of fluid is an very ancient as fluid

flow touches the human life almost
everywhere and all times (Air, Water all
around us)
- Archimedes (287-212 BC): Buoyancy
- L. Da Vinci (1500): 1-D viscous flow
- Torricell (1644): Efflux velocity from a hole
- Mariotte (1686): Traite de movement des
eaux
 Historical Introduction (2)
- Newton (1687) : Principia- Viscous behavior of
common fluids, Newtonian fluids, etc… (AHEAD
OF HIS TIME)
- Bernoulli (1738) – Inviscid flow (Pressure
gradient and acceleration)
- Euler (1755)- Ideal flow theory
- d’Alembert (1752), Lagrange, Laplace, Gerstner:
more hydrodynamics
- Navier 1827, Cauchy 1828, Poisson 1829, St.
Venant 1843, Stokes 1845: Viscous flows
- Prandtl (1904)- Boundary layer concept
- Reynolds (-1912), Rayleigh (-1919), Prandtl (-
1953): Experimental Fluid Dynamics and
Dimensional Analysis.
 Boundary Layer Concept
• Region next to a boundary (solid surface) of
an object the fluid had its velocity changed
because of the shearing (viscous)
resistance created on the boundary
• Note the laminar, transitional and turbulent
region (Transition occurs at 500,000 to 1e6)
• BL equations and solutions will be studies
later.
 Figure 9.5
Development
of boundary
layer and
distribution of
shear stress
along a thin,
flat plate. (a)
Flow pattern in
boundary
layers above
and below the
plate. (b)
Shear-stress
distribution on
either side of
the plate.
 Some Examples of Viscous-Flow
Phenomena
- (1) Airfoil flow,
- (2) Cylinder in crossflow,
- (3) Pipe-entry flow,
- (4) Prolate spheroid flow
- Power of analytical power
- Viscous-flow theory correctness
- Primary controlling Parameter: Re=UL/;
U=velocity scale, L length scale,  and 
are the fluid density and dynamic viscosity.
 Viscous flow examples
• As Re increases the flow pattern changes
from laminar, transitional to fluctuating or
turbulent flow.
• Example 1- Flow past a thin Airfoil
- Consider the flow over a thin airfoil at
small angle of attack <5deg, L=1m,
U=100m/s, =1.5E-5m2/s, hence
Re=6.7E6
- Flow creates a thin BL near the wing
surface
Example 1-Flow past this airfoil
• Pressure distribution can be predicted by inviscid
flow theory (at small angles).
• Wall shear stress can be computed with BL
theory (Ch 4 and 6) (at small angles)
• Sharp trailing edge establishes the flow pattern:
viscous flow can not go around a sharp edge, and
must leave smoothly and tangentially as shown in
fig 1-1a.
• Using inviscid theory CL=F/(0.5U2L)=2sin
where F is the lift force per unit depth, L is the
chord of the airfoil
 Example Cont’d
• At larger incidence angle, BL separation or stall
will occur, on the upper (suction) or low pressure
surface: the inviscid flow theory does not work
anymore.
• When the flow separates, the lift coefficient will
level off to a maximum, then decreases as
shown in Fig 1-2.
• Below stall, lift can predicted by ideal flow
theory, and friction by BL theory.
• Above stall, BL theory does not work, need to
use Experimentation or numerical simulation of
the N-S equation.
• Flow visualization of finite airfoils is shown in Fig
1-3.
 Exp.2 –Flow past circular cylinder
• Very common
geometry in
engineering
• Using inviscid flow
theory (uniform stream
and line doublet) we 2
R
get the solution in vr  U  (1  2 ) cos 
polar coordinates: r
2
R
v  U  (1  2 ) sin 
r
 Exp 2
• Streamlines under potential flow assumption are
shown in Fig 1-4a.
• The solution violates the no slip conditions (v is
not zero at the wall, hence not correct close to
and at the surface)
• Pressure distribution can be predicted using
Bernoulli’s equation (Cp is shown in Fig 1-4b:
ps  p  0.5U (1  4 sin  )
2

2

ps  p
Cp   1  4 sin 
2

0.5U 
2
Figure 1-4a (Crowe p. 121)
Irrotational flow past a cylinder.
Figure 1-4b (Crowe p. 121)
Pressure distribution on a cylinder—irrotational flow.
 Exp 2 Cont’d
• Real (viscous) flow differ considerably, Why ?
• What do expect to see ?
- Sketch the streamlines
- Sketch the pressure around the circle
 Exp 2 Cont’d
• Real (viscous) flow differ considerably, we note
separation points, wake region, etc…In front the
flow is similar to potential solution, in the back
we have a different picture.

• The pressure on the rear side is everywhere

smaller than the free stream pressure, hence we
get a non-zero drag force (d’Alembert paradox).
Figure 1-4c (p. 123)
Highly Turbulent Flow of a real fluid past a circular cylinder.
Figure 1-4d (p. 123)
Pressure distribution on a circular cylinder, Re = 105; after Fage and Warsap
(5).
 Questions
• What causes the BL/flow to separate ?
• How is the pressure gradient in
streamwise direction ? Is it favorable or
unfavorable ?
 Exp 2 Cont’d
• In reality the stream lines are not symmetrical
and vortex shedding occurs (Viscous flow
instability, Von Karman, 1911) for ReD>35
• The dimensionless shedding frequency:
Strouhal number is St=fD/U0.2
Figure 1-5d (p. 123)
Flow past a square rod and a disk and through a sharp-edged orifice.
 Exp 2 Cont’d
• Re Critical value occurs when the flow
becomes turbulent in front of the cylinder;
• This cause a sudden drop in drag
coefficient
• In conclusion, the real flow differ a lot from
the ideal prediction.
• Viscous forces are very small compared to
pressure drag, but they control the
pressure field and hence the whole flow.
• BL predicts the onset of separation
• Stokes theory works ok for low Re<1.
 Exp 3: Flow in a circular pipe
• Wall friction causes a viscous layer (BL) . BL
can be laminar or turbulent depending on Re.
• The BL around the tube coalesce to fill the
tube completely ending the entry region.
• Flow can be laminar or turbulent Re>2000
• Theory for laminar, turbulent, developing and
developed flow is well formulated for constant
area ducts.
• For diffusers, separation occurs and
Numerical solutions are needed.
 Exp 4:Flow Past a prolate spheroid
• Complex 3D flow (over a slender football shape)
at high angle of attack
• BL theory will not work
• Study using experimental or advanced CFD
tools
• Re=4.2e6, flow is turbulent
• Solution by Constantinescu (2003) using LES
model (model small scale eddies and predict
large eddies.
• Validated against Chesnakas and Simpson
(1997) (measured pressure, shear stresses and
surface turning angles)
Overview of Chapter