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Hydraulic analogy of supersonic flow lab notes

By

M. Carbonaro and V. Van der Haegen





EUROAVIA symposium November 2002











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Introduction.

The analogy between pressure waves in two-dimensional compressible flow and
gravity waves on the free surface of a liquid can be demonstrated using a water table.
Figure 1 shows the set-up of the VKI water table.


Figure 1: The VKI water table.


Looking at figures 2 and 3, one sees immediately the analogy between a supersonic
airfoil tested in a supersonic tunnel (The Schlieren photograph in figure 1) and the
same shape tested on a water table.



Figure 2: An airfoil in a supersonic tunnel Figure 3: The same shape on a water table.


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Based on these pictures, one might conclude that the analogy is quite good, and that
this allows supersonic experimental research in a facility much easier to operate then
a wind tunnel, and much less expensive. However, some assumptions are made which
limit the general application of the analogy for quantitative research work. This will
be assessed in more detail below.

Theoretical basis.

The energy conservation equation for a two-dimensional, isentropic, inviscid gas flow
can be derived in the following form:

T
T
M
0 2
2
1
1

[1]

If there would be a gas for which ? = 2, then this equation would become:

T
T M
0
2
2
1 + [2]

Disregarding viscous forces and the vertical components of velocity and acceleration,
the energy equation for a liquid flowing with a free surface is:

h
h
gh
v
0
2
2
1 + [3]

If in this equation one assumes that the speed of propagation of the surface wave is
gh C , and if one defines the Froude number as
C
v
F , then the energy equation
becomes:

h
h F
0
2
2
1 + [4]

One recognizes that equations [2] and [4] are formally similar. With the aid of the
isentropic relationships, one can summarize the analogue quantities as follows:

Two dimensional, compressible, isentropic flow
of a hypothetical perfect gas with ? = 2.
Analogous quantities in a two dimensional,
incompressible, inviscid flow with a free
surface.
a
v
M
C
v
F
0
T
T

0
h
h

0

0
h
h

0
p
p

2
0

,
_

h
h

Shock wave Hydraulic jump
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Assumptions and discrepancies in the analogy.

Up to this point the analogy appears almost ideal. Unfortunately there are several
assumptions that need careful investigation: The issue of ?, the propagation velocity
of a surface wave, and viscous effects will be discussed more in detail.

1) 2 .

Neither air nor any other known gas has a specific heat ratio of 2. Since the derivation
of the analogous gas energy equation requires ? = 2, the comparisons for air are not
strictly valid. However, it is generally agreed that there are certain phenomena that do
not depend strongly on the value of ?, and that for Mach or Froude number less then
about 1.5 the quantitative comparisons are actually quite good.

2) gh C

The actual propagation velocity of the surface wave, C, is given more accurately by:


,
_

,
_

h g
C
2
tanh
2
2
[5]

Only if ? is large with respect to h and effects of surface tension s are neglected can
we assume that gh C . Unfortunately, the surface wave propagation is a
summation of disturbances of all wavelengths, so one cannot select only those
wavelengths that are big enough to match the assumption.

Indeed, if one plots the propagation velocity of the surface wave against its
wavelength, one can distinguish three components: (refer to equation [5] and figure 4)
Curve I: due to the inertia (gravity wave), so

2
g

Curve II: due to the surface tension (capillary wave), so

2
. This
term decreases rapidly as a function of ?.
Curve III: represents the term
,
_

h 2
tanh and is plotted for different
heights h. Note that at larger water depths, this term becomes constant.
Indeed, ( ) 1 tanh x for x>>1.

Curve IV, which is the propagation velocity with respect to the wavelength, is
composed of the three other curves, as equation [5] shows. One can see that generally
this curve decreases at low wavelengths, due to the capillary waves, and then
increases again due to the gravity waves. However, one can find a depth h for which
the term
,
_

h 2
tanh exactly compensates for this rising trend, so that the wave
propagation speed stays constant with respect to the wave length, at least outside the
capillary wave domain.
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Hence it is apparent that at this depth (about 5 mm.) the gravity wave and all other
long waves will coincide, and one concludes that this is the only appropriate depth.
(See figure 5). Note that at the optimum depth of h = 4.7mm the shortest wavelengths
(the so-called capillary waves) still travel at a velocity greater than the group velocity
of the longer waves and can never be eliminated. Fortunately the strength of these
capillary waves is not sufficient to cause serious wave front distortion.

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
wavelength [mm]
[
-
]
[
-
]

Figure 4: propagation speed vs wave length decomposed




0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Wave length [mm]
C

[
m
/
s
]
h=3mm
h=4.7mm
h=8mm
h=10mm
h=14mm
h=18mm
h=22mm
h=26mm
h=30mm

Figure 5: Propagation speed vs wave length for various depths.


One can easily determine the depth at which the longer wave propagation speeds
coincide:


,
_

,
_

h g
C
2
tanh
2
2
2
[6]

I
II
III
h=5mm
h=10mm
h=20mm
h=30mm
h=50mm
IV
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Since ...
315
17
15
2
3
) tanh(
7 5 3
+ +
x x x
x x
Equation [6] can be developed as:


...
5
2
2
15
2 3
1
2
3
1
1
...
2
15
2 2
3
1
1
2
1
...
2
15
2 2
3
1
1
2 4
1
2
4
2
2
2
4 2 2
2
2
4 2
2
2
2
+

,
_

,
_

,
_

,
_

1
1
]
1

,
_

+
,
_

1
1
]
1

,
_

+
1
1
]
1

,
_

+
,
_

,
_

+
gh
h
gh
h
gh
C
h h h
gh
gh C
h h h
g
g
C

h when
h

2 1
2
>> << , and this condition occurs except in the capillary range,
where ? is small. Since we are not interested in the capillary range we can neglect
fourth and higher order terms, and:


g
h So
gh
if gh C

3
:
0
3
1
2

For water at 20C this gives:
[ ]
[ ]
] [ 7 . 4 1000
81 . 9 998
07275 . 0 3
2 3
mm
s
m
m
kg
m
N
h

1
]
1

One can conclude that the optimum water depth is around 4.7 mm. Note that figure 5
shows that the depth h is only weakly dependent on the shape of the curve, so a water
depth between 4 and 6 mm works well.

3) Viscous effects.

Fluid viscosity is neglected in deriving both equations [2] and [4] of motion for the
analogy. However, viscous forces do exert considerable influence on the water flow,
since measurable boundary layers exist on both the table floor and the model. This
means that a truly uniform velocity distribution is impossible.

Further reading.

SHAPIRO, A.H.: Free surface water table. High speed aerodynamics and jet
propulsion, Vol. IX, Princeton Univ. Press 1950, pp 309-321.

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Lab assignment.

1) We want to establish a flow with a Froude number of 2.5. What would be the
water depth upstream of the sluice gate (h)?
2) Place a sharp wedge in the stream at an angle of attack of 0. One can clearly
see a number of waves (shocks) emanating from the nose.
a. Clearly, only one of these waves can be linked to the supersonic
analogy. Which wave would that be?
b. What do these other waves mean?
c. How can you tell if the Froude number is greater or less then 1?
d. What would you see if the Froude number would be smaller then 1?
3) Place the wedge so that one side is parallel to the flow (d=0), and measure the
shock angle ?. (Refer to figure 6). Now Gradually increase d and measure ?,
so that you obtain a graph ? =f(d).
a. What can you deduce from this? If you compare to Figure 8, which is
the equivalent Mach number?
b. What happens if you increase too much d?











Figure 6: The wedge placed at a positive angle of attack.


4) Place the wedge at an angle of attack of about 15.
a. What happens with the water depth on the upstream side? On the
downstream side?
b. Can you relate this to the pressure?
c. What happens to the water depth if you increase or decrease the angle
of attack of the wedge?
5) Now place a second wedge against the first, as shown in figure 7, so that you
obtain a supersonic wing profile.
a. Draw the compression and expansion waves on the figure.
b. Can you draw a streamline alongside the profile? (Note: a streamline is
a line that a water particle would follow along its course.)
c. What would happen if you change the angle of attack of the wing?


Flow
d
?
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Figure 7: A double wedge forming a supersonic wing.


6) Basically, you can put a supersonic intake in two positions. The intake can be
choked, so that the flow is subsonic at the outlet. It can also be started, so that
the flow is supersonic at the outlet.
a. How can you tell in which condition the intake is placed?
b. What happens with the flow at the expansion side of the intake, if the
flow is subsonic? Supersonic?
c. How can you tell if the flow at the outlet is supersonic?
d. Can you come up with a way to keep the intake started, but still have a
subsonic regime at the outlet?





Flow
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Figure 8: d, ? and M relation.


d
?