Flow Regimes

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Discussion
reynolds number
Re = (vx,z)(y) vD v = = The Reynolds number (Re) is the ratio of inertial resistance to viscous resistance for a flowin fluid! The Reynolds number is a non"dimensional (unitless) factor overnin resistance due to viscosity (amon other thin s)! This importance of this dimensionless constant was first determined in #$$% by the &ritish physicist and en ineer 'sborne Reynolds (#$()"#*#))! o Reynolds+ 'sborne!, -n experimental investi ation of the circumstances which determine whether the motion of water shall be direct or sinuous+ and of the law of resistance in parallel channels!, Royal Society, Philosophical Transactions+ #$$%! o Reynolds. experiments on flow throu h pipes! /ompare pressure losses due to viscous friction with flow speed throu h a hori0ontal pipe! 1o " lo raph of pressure radient (P2d) vs! flow speed (v)! The slope of the line of best fit on a lo "lo raph is the power (n) relatin the explanatory variable (flow speed) to the response variable (pressure radient)! 3low Re imes o 3or low Reynolds numbers the behavior of a fluid depends mostly on its viscosity and the flow is steady+ smooth+ viscous+ or laminar and n = #! o 3or hi h Reynolds numbers the momentum of the fluid determines its behavior more than the viscosity and the flow is unsteady+ churnin + roilin + or turbulent and n = )! o 3or intermediate Reynolds numbers the flow is transitional 4 partly laminar and partly turbulent! 5calin o The full implications of the Reynolds number were never reali0ed by Reynolds who considered the ratio merely as a criterion for the critical velocity in pipe flow! 1ord Raylei h has shown that it is a non" dimensional factor which overns all problems on fluid flow frictional resistance+ and that similar non"dimensional constants exist for many other natural phenomena!

6t is a practice in en ineerin desi n that when a lar e ob7ect such as a ship+ airplane+ or buildin is to be made+ a scale model is constructed and tested so that the performance of the lar e ob7ect can be calculated from the test results of the scale model! 1ord Raylei h showed that the scale model tests ave comparable results only when the non" dimensional factor of the model is e8ual to that of the lar e ob7ect when wor9in under its desi n conditions! &y e8uatin the non" dimensional factor of the lar e ob7ect to that of the model+ the test speed of the model is obtained! This is 9nown as the correspondin speed and the comparison of the two conditions between the lar e ob7ect and the test results of a scale model at its correspondin speed is 9nown as the principle of dynamic similarity! 3rom :-5- ,&y #*)# more than a score of wind tunnels had been constructed the world over! &ut all those of substantial si0e were operatin at normal atmospheric pressures! This meant that the experimental results obtained usin scale models in the tunnels were open to 8uestion because a special parameter called the Reynolds number did not match those encountered in the actual fli hts of full" scale aircraft! 6n other words+ the Reynolds number of #2);"scale models bein tested at operational fli ht velocities would be too low by a factor of );! Reynolds. classic experiments had shown that airflow conditions could be radically different for model and full"scale aircraft! 5ince the Reynolds number is also proportional to air density+ an obvious solution to the problem of scale effects would be to test #2);" scale models at a pressure of ); atmospheres! The Reynolds number would then be the same in the wind tunnel tests and actual full"scale fli hts!, <ma nify=

3luid 3low Re imes as a 3unction of Reynolds :umber! /ritical Reynolds :umbers object lower upper circular pipes )+;;; )+>;; flat plates %;;+;;; >;;+;;; 5ample Reynolds :umbers Re animal ?)+;;; sea ull >;+;;; lar e fish %+*;; butterfly #+;;; honeybee %;; african fro tadpole #); housefly #> chalcid wasp ;!) paramecium ;!;)> dinofla ellate

Re aircraft )+;;;+;;;+;;; boein @(@ ##;+;;;+;;; typical commercial 7et ?+%;;+;;; cessna (+@;;+;;; li ht plane #+?;;+;;; lider )>;+;;; model airplane (@+;;; paper airplane

;!;;%> spermato0oa+ sea urchin ;!;;;+;# bacterium Re circulatory system %+(;; aorta %+%;; vena cava >;; artery #(; vein ;!@ arteriole ;!;# venule ;!;;) capillary Re miscellaneous )>;+;;;+;;; cumulus cloud formation

mach number
:o two bodies can occupy the same place at the same time! Ahen a solid ob7ect and a fluid are in relative motion 4 li9e a bird flyin throu h the air or the wind blowin around a mountain 4 it is usually the fluid that yields to the solid! 5olids are held to ether by intermolecular forces and atomic bonds! 6f the cohesive forces between the particles in a solid are considered si nificant and lon lastin + then the cohesive forces in a li8uid are wea9 and short lived! 6n a as they are virtually nonexistent! Bou mi ht thin9 that fluids are a pushover for a movin solid+ but this is not always the case! The molecules that ma9e up even the most tenuous of ases won.t be able to et out of the way of a solid body movin at a considerable speed! Ceteors 8uite commonly brea9 up on enterin the earth.s atmosphere from space! (They also burn up+ but that is as much an result of frictional heatin as it is of tryin to push the air out of the way!) -ircraft are 9nown to have bro9en up durin fli ht from the buffetin effects of movin air on a wea9ened or dama ed part! 1ess commonly and more unfortunately+ so too have spacecraft! 6n );;% the 5pace 5huttle /olumbiabro9e apart in the upper atmosphere durin its final descent to landin ! - piece of foam isulation about the si0e of a briefcase fell off the external fuel tan9 while the shuttle was ta9in off! This punched a fist"si0ed hole into the leadin ed e of the orbiter.s win ! The hot plasma produced when the shuttle reenters the earth.s atmosphere eventually melted the aluminum frame holdin the ri ht win in place! 6t snapped off and the air rushin by tore the orbiter to pieces! /ontact was lost somewhere over northeastern Texas at an altitude of ?)+;;; m4 on the ed e of space where the pressure and density of the atmosphere are rou hly one" ten thousandth of their values at sea level! /olumbia was scheduled to land sixteen minutes later in 3lorida! 3lyin this distance in a commercial 7et would ta9e somethin li9e two hours and forty"five minutes 4 rou hly ten times lon er! /olumbia was destroyed by an exceptionally tenuous as while it flyin at an exceptionally hi h speed! -t the time of last contact it was travelin at nearly >?;; m2s! The Cach number (Ma) is a ratio of inertia to compressibility! 6t is the non" dimensional factor overnin resistance due to lon itudinal (compressional) wave formation!

Ma) =

v)) B v D c) = Ma = B) c

The ratio of the speed of flow (v) to the speed of sound in a fluid (c) is 9nown as the Cach number! Cach ;!> corresponds to a flow speed that.s half the speed of sound+ Cach ) to a flow speed that.s twice the speed of sound+ and so on! 3luid flow can be bro9en up into two eneral re imes by Cach numberE those less than Cach # are said to be subsonic+ while those reater than Cach # are said to be supersonic! - body movin throu h a fluid at speeds less than the speed of sound in the fluid is preceded by a re ion of radually varyin density and pressure! -t speeds reater than the speed of sound+ such a radual transition is not possible and a shoc9 wave of nearly discontinuously chan in pressure and density is formed! 6n the case of a supersonic aircraft or a bullet+ this shoc9wave is a double walled cone that forms with the front and bac9 of the ob7ect at its vertices (pro7ections in between li9e win s and stabili0ers are placed at the vertices of intermediate shoc9 waves)! 5hoc9 waves can also form whenever a fluid is heated so rapidly that the leadin ed e of its expansion travels at or above the speed of sound in the fluid! Rou hly spherical shoc9 waves form when bombs+ firewor9s+ and other pyrotechnic devices explode! bolt of li htnin enerates a cylindrical shoc9wave centered on the bolt.s path! The sound of a shoc9wave produced by a supersonic aircraft is called a sonic boom+ while the sound of a shoc9 wave produced by li htnin is called thunder! Cach numbers between ;!$ and #!> are said to be transonic! - transonic flow over an aircraft win will have poc9ets of subsonic and supersonic flow mixed to ether+ which leads to a loss of stability! The effects of the so called sound barrier also tend to be si nificant and fli ht can very easily become hard to control! Ahen the Cach number in a fluid approaches >+ the behavior of the fluid depends more upon the Reynolds number than the Cach number and the flow is said to be hypersonic! - model of an airplane travelin throu h any fluid at a certain Cach number will behave much li9e the real thin travelin throu h the air at that same Cach number up until one enters the hypersonic re ime! &elow Cach >+ the shoc9 wave is separated from the ob7ect by a small but si nificant distance! 'b7ects movin faster than Cach > start to interact with this shoc9 front! <ma nify= 3luid 3low Re imes as a 3unction of Cach :umber! compressible vs! incompressible flow

froude number

Fr =

v Fg The 3roude number (Fr) is the ratio of the inertial forces to the ravitational forces! The 3roude number is the non"dimensional factor overnin resistance due to surface wave formation (amon other thin s)! :amed after Ailliam 3roude+ a :ineteenth /entury Gn lish scientist who was one of the first to use a towin tan9! Hydrostatic 7ump The wa9e in front of a boat! (6s that what it.s calledI)