Visualisationofpotentialflows

1. Aim
Theobjectiveoftheexperimentistostudypotentialflowsarounddifferentbodies.Qualitative
streamlinepatternistoberecordedforthefollowingshapes:
1.Circularcylinder
2.Rankinehalfbody
3.Symmetricaerofoil
4.Rankineoval
Forthepotentialflowaroundacircularcylinder,thevelocityfieldistobecalculatedfromthe
streamlinepattern.Theexperimentallyobservedstreamlinepatternandthevelocityfieldhastobe
comparedwiththepotentialflowsolutionforflowaroundacircularcylinder.
2. Theory
Whenthevelocityfieldofafluidflowcanberepresentedasthegradientofascalarquantitycalled
thevelocitypotential,suchaflowisknownaspotentialflow.Forpotentialflows,
v =
(1)

whereisthevelocitypotential.Irrotationalflowsoccurwhenthevorticity


v =0. (2)
=

Eq.(2)showsthatirrotationalityimposesstrictconditionsonvelocitygradients,viz.
w / y= v/ z , u/ z= w / x , v / x = u/ y (3)
whereu,v,warethevelocitycomponentsinthex,y,zdirection.Itiseasytoseethatthevelocity
componentsofeq.(1)satisfyeq.(3).Henceifanyflowisirrotational,therestrictionsimposedby
theirrotationalityconditionensurethatthevelocityfieldcanberepresentedbythegradientofa
scalarvelocitypotential.
Iftheflowisincompressible,

v = 0 ; (4)

2 = 0 ; (5)

andthevelocityfieldcanbeobtainedbysolvingtheLaplaceequation.Fortwodimensionalflows,
2 =0 whereisthestreamfunctiondefinedas u= / y , v= / x ;thestreamfunction
alsosatisfiestheLaplaceequation.Therefore,whentheflowisirrotationalthevelocityfieldcanbe
obtainedbysolvingalinearsecondorderellipticPDEinonevariable(or)ratherthansolving
theformidableNSequationsinthreevelocitycomponents.

Suchsolenoidalandirrotationalvelocityvectorfields,obtainedasthesolutionofLaplaceequation,
have some unique properties.Some of these are: the velocity field is independent of temporal
changes, it is possible to superpose two solutions to obtain a third solution, values of normal
componentofvelocityattheboundariesuniquelydeterminethevalueofvelocityeverywhereand

pressuredistributionhasnoroleindecidingthevelocitydistribution.Sincethevelocitydistribution
isdeterminedonlybythenormalvelocityattheboundariesthesolutionsofLaplaceequationallow
nonzerotangentialvelocitiesattheboundaries.Hence,thenoslipconditionisnotsatisfiedand
theseflowsarerarelyseeninpractice.Often,athighRe,theflowatsomedistanceawayfromthe
rigidboundarieswheretheviscouseffectsarenegligiblecanberepresentedaspotentialflows;a
thinviscousBoundaryLayerwithinwhichthevelocitychangesfromthenoslipvelocitytothe
potentialflowvelocity,occursattheboundary.
However,itisnottruethatonlyinviscidflowsarepotentialflows.Irrotational,andhencepotential
flows,canoccurevenwhenviscousforcesareimportant.Itiseasytoseewhythisissobywriting
theN.Sequationas

p1/ 2 v2 gz = v


(6)
v / t
usingthevectoridentities
v=
v 2 / 2 v
,
2 v=

v
. (7)
v

Eq.(6)showsthatwhateverbethevalueofviscosity,therighthandsidevanishesforirrotational
flowsandtheflowobeystheinviscidEulerequations,thepressurebeingrelatedtovelocitybythe
unsteadyBernoulliequation,
/ t p1/2v 2gz =const (8)
Heleshawcellisauniquecasewheretheabovesituationisbeautifullyillustrated.Theflowisof
lowRe,viscousforcesbalancethepressuregradientinthestreamwisedirection.However,the
flowisirrotational(why?)andthevelocityfieldisgivenbythesolutionofLaplaceequations.The
experimentallowsonetovisualizethehypotheticalinviscidpotentialflowsusingaviscouspotential
flowsetup.
3. Experimentalsetup
Theexperimentalsetupconsistsoftwosectionsofatank,betweenwhichtheflowisregulated.At
theoutletofthepump,aflowmeterisinstalledtoregulatetheinletflow.Twoglasssheetsareplaced
ontopofthetanksurfacetocreatethetestsection.Theseparationbetweenthetwoglasssheetsis
approximately2mm.Waterismadetoflowbetweenthetwosectionsofthetank,throughthetest
section.Liquiddyeiscontainedinaseparatereservoirandisinjectedbetweentheglasssheets
throughaneedle.Thedyeisusedtovisualizetheflow.
4. Procedure
1.Fillthereservoirswithwater.
2.Insertthespecimeninthegapbetweentheglasssheetsafternotingitsdimensions.
3.FilltheDyereservoiratthesidewiththeDye.
4.Adjustthestopcockforthedesiredlowflowratetoavoidunsteadiness.
5.Illuminatefrombehindusingdiffuselightandtakeaphotograph,includingthespecimenand
theupstreamregionwherethestreamlinesareparallelinthephotograph.
6.Measuretheflowrate.
7.Repeattheprocedureforotherspecimens,drainthewater&dyesolutionaftertheexperiment.

5. Analysisofobservations
Quantitativeanalysisneedstobedoneonlyforthecircularcylindercase.Thenecessaryreadingsfor
thecircularcylindercaseare
1.FlowrateQ(ml/s)
2.Widthw&depthdofflowarea(cms)
3.Dimensionofthecylinderd(cm)
4.Agoodphotographshowingtheupstreamparallelstreamlineregionalongwiththecylinder.
The objective of the analysis is to compare the theoretical and experimental potential flow
streamlinesandvelocitydistributions.Theanalysismaybeattemptedbythefollowingprocedure.
1. Calculatetheuniformupstreamvelocity
=Q/ wd (9)
U

2.Calculatethedifferenceinstreamfunctionbetweentwoconsecutivestreamlinesattheup
streamuniformvelocityregionfrom
= / y/ y (10)
U

Sinceu&yareconstantacrossthewidthofthecellattheupstreamuniformvelocity
region,isaconstantbetweenanytwoconsecutivestreamlines.Assign=0atr=a
andcalculateforallthestreamlines.
3.Thepotentialflowsolutionforthestreamfunctionforflowpastacircularcylindercentered
atorigininrcoordinatesis
2
=U rsin r a /r (11)

which is obtained as a superposition of uniform flow and doublet solutions. For the
experimentally observed u, plot contours of constant at the same radial distances where
experimentalstreamlinesarepresent.Showthatthetheoretical&experimentalstreamlinepattern
coincide.Asamplematlabcodeforplottingthepotentialflowsolutionisasfollows
(r,theta)=meshgrid(1:0.05:5,0:2pi/50:2pi);
u=0.1;a=1;
psi=usin(theta).(ra2./r);
contour(r.cos(theta),r.sin(theta),psi,50);
4.Calculationofvelocityfieldfromtheexperimentalstreamlines
(a)Makethestreamlineimageintoabinaryimageaftercroppingtheimagetotheareaof
concern
z=imread(imagename,jpg);(12)
zc=imcrop(z);(13)
zbw=im2bw(zc,0.5);imshow(zbw);(14)

Here,changethethresholdleveltoobtainthedarkstreamlinesasblackoverawhite
background.
(b)Labelthedifferentconnectedobjectsintheimageasseparateobjects
zbwl=bwlabel(zbw,4)(15)
zrgb=labelzrgb(zbwl,@jet,'k')(16)
figure;imshow(zrgb,'notruesize')(17)
Nowthestreamlineshouldappearasblacklines(i.e.zerovalues).

(c)Calculatethescalefactor(1pixel=xcms)oftheimagebycountingthepixelsovera
knownlength(say,thecylinderdiameter).isconstantandknownforeachstreamline.
Assuminglinearvariationofintheydirectionbetweenstreamlines,thexvelocity
componentuatdifferentpositionsonastreamlinecanbecalculatedas
u= / y= / y
similarly
v= / x
canbecalculatedforthesamepositionsonthestreamline.(Usematlabcodefor
theabovegradientcalculation.Youmayeitherlinearlyinterpolatethevaluesof
andcalculatelocalgradientorapproximatethegradientastheratioofdifferencein
betweenconsecutivestreamlinesandthedistancebetweenthestreamlines).Plotthe
quiverplot(vectorplotwitharrowlengthindicatingmagnitudeofvelocity&direction
ofarrowthedirectionofvelocity)fromtheu&vcomponentsofvelocitiescalculated
intheabovemanner.Plotsimilarquiverplotfromthepotentialflowsolutioneq.(11)
forthesamestreamlineasinexperiment.Comparethevelocitiesfromexperiments&
theory.Repeatthecalculationforafewstreamlinesnearthecylinder.

(d)DerivetheformofthepotentialfunctionfortheHeleShawflowsimplifyingtheNS
equationsintermsofpressure,viscosityandthegapbetweentheglassplates.Draw
conclusionsabouttheunderlyingphysicsfromthepotentialformandyourexperiments
andthecomparisonwithinviscidpotentialflowsolution.
References
[1]R.J.Granger.Experimentsinfluidmechanics.Holt,RinehartandWinston,INC.,1988.
[2]Mathworks.Imageprocessingtoolboxusersguide,5edition,2005.
[3]B.RMunson,D.F.Young,andT.N.Okiishi.Fundamentalsoffluidmechanics.JohnWileyand
sons,Inc.,4edition,2002.
[4]FMWhite.Viscousfluidflow.McGrawHill,2edition,1991.
[5]F.M.White.FluidMechanics.McGrawHill,5edition,2005.