Supplemental: fow visualization

CHEE 3363
Spring 2014
Handout 7a

Reading: Fox 2.2

Flow visualization using streamlines

:






Lines indicate the path traced by fluid elements in the flow
At each point, the velocity of a fluid element is tangent to the
streamline
Explicitly: steady 2-D flow, velocity field
v = v
x
(x, y)i + v
y
(x, y)j
dr = v dt = v
x
dt i +v
y
dt j = dxi +dyj
Streamline equations:
v
x
dt = dx
v
y
dt = dy
{
2
dy
dx
=
v
y
v
x
= f(x, y)
v = 2xi +y
2
j
dy
dx
=
v
y
v
x
=
y
2
2x

dy
y
2
=

dx
2x

1
y
=
1
2
ln 2x +C
y =
2
ln 2x +C
Flow visualization using streamlines
Example: consider flow given by the velocity field:
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0 2 4 6 8 10
m1=2
m1=3
m1=4
m1=5
y
x
3