Governing Equations of Fluid

Dynamics

Dr. Zaib Ali

 Governing Equations

• Mathematical statements of the conservation laws of physics:

– The mass of a fluid is conserved
– The rate of change of momentum equals the sum of the forces on a
fluid particle (Newton‘s second law)
– The rate of change of energy is equal to the sum of the rate of heat
addition to and the rate of work done on a fluid particle (first law of
thermodynamics)
• The fluid is treated as a continuum.
• Behavior of the fluid in terms of macroscopic properties, such
as velocity, pressure, density and temperature, and their space
and time derivatives.
 Governing Equations

• The governing equations can be obtained in various different forms.

• For most fluid dynamics theory, the particular form of the equations
makes little difference.
• However, for a given algorithm in CFD, the use of the equations in
one form may lead to success, whereas the use of an alternate form
may result in oscillations (wiggles) in the numerical results,
incorrect results, or even instability.
• Therefore, in the world of CFD, the various forms of the equations
are of vital interest.
• In tum, it is important to derive these equations in order to point out
their differences and similarities, and to reflect on possible
implications in their application to CFD.
 Fluid element and properties

The behavior of the fluid is described in terms of macroscopic properties

• Typically ignore (x,y,z,t) in the notation.

• Properties are averages of a sufficiently large
number of molecules.
• A fluid element can be thought of as the smallest
volume for which the continuum assumption is
valid.
 Continuum Hypothesis
• How to study fluid motion?
– Difficult rather impossible to quantify motion of fluid by tracking
motion of individual molecules
• Continuum hypothesis
– Consider the fluid to be made of lots of small particles (with many
molecules) that interact with each other and surrounding
– The motion of the fluid can be determined by the velocity and
acceleration of these fluid particles
– Any fluid property, p, T, ρ, v may be written as a function of its spatial
coordinates, x, y, z and secondly the time t; which is known as Field
representation.
– So the temperature would be T = T(x, y, z, t) .
– The properties of the fluid will generally be a continuous function.
 Continuum Hypothesis
• Continuum hypothesis can take two approaches
– Eulerian approach:
• Fluid properties are determined at fixed points in space as fluid flows by.
– Lagrangian approach:
• Fluid particles are tagged/identified and their properties are determined as
they move in space.
 Eulerian and Lagrangian Description
Consider smoke going up a chimney

• Eulerian approach Attach thermometer to the top of chimney, point 0.

Record T as a function of time. As different smoke particles pass through
O, the temperature changes. Gives T(x0, y0, z0, t). More thermometers to
get T(x, y, z, t).
• Lagrangian approach Thermometers are attached to a particle, A. End up
with TA = TA(a). Can have many particles and track T for all of them. If we
also know, position of each particle of function of time, can translate
Lagrangian information into Eulerian information.
 Rate of change for a fluid particle
• Terminology: Fluid element is a volume stationary in space, and a
fluid particle is a volume of fluid moving with the flow.
• A moving fluid particle experiences two rates of changes:
– Change due to changes in the fluid as a function of time.
– Change due to the fact that it moves to a different location in the fluid
with different conditions.
• The sum of these two rates of changes for a property per unit
mass  is called the total or substantive derivative D /Dt:
 The Material Derivative
𝐷( ) 𝜕( ) 𝜕( ) 𝜕( ) 𝜕( )
= +𝑢 +𝑣 +𝑤
𝐷𝑡 𝜕𝑡 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧
• One can define the material derivative for other properties for a fluid,
e.g. temperature or pressure.
𝐷𝑇 𝜕𝑇 𝜕𝑇 𝜕𝑇 𝜕𝑇
= +𝑢 +𝑣 +𝑤
𝐷𝑡 𝜕𝑡 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧
𝐷( ) 𝜕( )
• Material derivative is also written as = + (𝑽. 𝛁)( )
𝐷𝑡 𝜕𝑡
• The material derivative allows for two types of contribution. Unsteady
𝜕( ) 𝜕( )
effects when ≠ 0 and convective when ≠0
𝜕𝑡 𝜕𝑥𝑦𝑧
Local and Convective Derivatives

Material Derivative Local Derivative Convective Derivative

Unsteady Effects Convective Effects
Control Volume and System Representation
• When describing a fluid, we can look at a region of space
(Eulerian) or look at what happens to specific pieces of the
fluid (Lagrangian). When applying the laws of motion,
one can use either the system or control volume approach.
• A system is a collection of matter of fixed identity (always
the same atoms or fluid particles), which may move, flow,
and interact with its surroundings. It can change, shape or
speed as forces act on it.
• A control volume, on the other hand, is a volume in space
(a geometric entity, independent of mass) through which
fluid may flow.
Control Volume and System Representation
• In dynamics, we want to keep track of given chunk of
matter by isolating it and drawing a free body diagram.
• Can be problematic in a fluid since harder to identify and
keep of a particular chunk of matter.
• Sometimes interested in the forces on a fan or automobile
resulting from the air flowing past (as opposed to what
happens to air).
• A specific volume of space is identified (the control
volume) and the flow within, through or around that
volume is investigated.
• In general, the control volume can be a moving volume.
 Control Volume
• The control surface is just the surface that
encloses the control volume.
• Fixed control volume

– The control volume consists of the inside of the

pipe between (1) and (2)
– Part of the control surface consists of the physical
surface of the pipe. Fluid can flow across the ends
of the control surface.

• Deforming control volume

– The control volume consists of the interior surface
of the collapsing balloon. The balloon may even be
moving.
 Control Volume
• Fixed or moving control volume
(The control volume shown is designed to
surround a jet engine.)
– Air is continually passing through
the engine. The system that was in
the engine at t = t1 is well past the
engine at t = t2.
– The control volume is stationary if
the jet itself is stationary. If the jet is
moving then the control volume
itself is moving.
– Laws of physics are framed in a
systems approach.
– To use control volume ideas, we
need to translate between systems
and control volume approaches, the
Reynolds transport theorem.
System vs. CV and Langrangian vs. Eulerian
• The relationship between a system and a control
volume is similar to the relationship between the
Lagrangian and Eulerian flow description.
• Lagrangian description, we follow the fluid and
observe its behavior as it moves about.
• In the control volume or Eulerian description we
remain stationary and observe the fluid‘s behavior at a
fixed location.
• If a moving control volume is used, it virtually never
moves with the system—the system flows through the
control volume.
System vs. CV and Langrangian vs. Eulerian
• All of the laws governing the motion of a fluid are
stated in their basic form in terms of a system
approach.
• For example, ―the mass of a system remains constant,‖
or ―the time rate of change of momentum of a system
is equal to the sum of all the forces acting on the
system.‖
• Note the word system, not control volume, in these
statements.
• To use the governing equations in a control volume
approach to problem solving, we must rephrase the
laws in an appropriate manner.
• To this end the Reynolds transport theorem is used.
 The Reynolds Transport Theorem

• The left side of Eq. is the time rate of change of an arbitrary

extensive parameter of a system. This may represent the rate of
change of mass, momentum, energy, or angular momentum of the
system, depending on the choice of the parameter B.

• Because the system is moving and the control volume is stationary,

the time rate of change of the amount of B within the control volume
is not necessarily equal to that of the system.

• The first term on the right side of Eq. represents the rate of change of
B within the control volume as the fluid flows through it.

• The last term in Eq. (an integral over the control surface) represents
the net flowrate of the parameter B across the entire control surface. 17
 Relationship with Material Derivative

• Both the material derivative and the

or Reynolds transport theorem equations
represent ways to transfer from the
Lagrangian viewpoint (follow a particle or
follow a system) to the Eulerian viewpoint
(observe the fluid at a given location in
space or observe what happens in the fixed
control volume).

• The material derivative is essentially the

infinitesimal (or derivative) equivalent of
the finite size (or integral) Reynolds
transport theorem

Convective effect:
Unsteady The effect associated 18

effect with the particle‘s

motion.
 Fluid element and properties

The behavior of the fluid is described in terms of macroscopic properties

• Typically ignore (x,y,z,t) in the notation.

• Properties are averages of a sufficiently large
number of molecules.
• A fluid element can be thought of as the smallest
volume for which the continuum assumption is
valid.
• Fluid properties at the faces can be expressed
accurately enough by means of the first two terms
of a Taylor series expansion.
 Continuity Equation
• Mass balance for the fluid element

• Rate of increase is:

• Net rate of mass flow into the element

Flows directed into the element get positive sign and vice versa
 Continuity Equation
• Rearranging

Unsteady, three-dimensional
mass conservation or
continuity equation at a point
in a compressible fluid.
Rate of change in time of the density Net flow of mass (convective term)

• For an incompressible fluid

Different forms of the Continuity Equation

• Four different forms of the same Equation (Continuity Eqn.)

• Each Eqn. derived from consideration of particular model of the flow.
 Integral versus Differential Form of the
Equations
• The integral form of the equations allows for the presence of discontinuities
inside the fixed control volume (fixed in space); there is no inherent mathematical
reason to assume otherwise.

• However, the differential form of the governing equations assumes the

flow properties are differentiable, hence continuous.

• This is a strong argument for the integral form of the equations to be

considered more fundamental than the differential form. This consideration
becomes of particular importance when calculating a flow with real
discontinuities, such as shock waves.
 Fluid particle and fluid element
• We can derive the relationship between the equations for a fluid
particle (Lagrangian) and a fluid element (Eulerian) as follows:
 Relevant entries for Φ

• Both the conservative (or divergence) form and non-conservative form of the
rate of change can be used as alternatives to express the conservation of a
physical quantity.
• The non-conservative forms are used in the derivations of momentum and
energy equations for a fluid flow for brevity of notation and to emphasize that
the conservation laws are fundamentally conceived as statements that apply to a
particle of fluid.
• Finally we will return to the conservative form that is used in finite volume CFD
calculations.
 Momentum Equation

• Rate of increase of x-, y-, and z-momentum per unit volume:

• Forces on fluid particles are:

– Surface forces such as pressure and viscous forces. (Expressed as separate terms)
– Body forces, which act on a volume, such as gravity, centrifugal,
Coriolis, and electromagnetic forces. (Expressed as source terms)
 Momentum Equation
Viscous stresses
• Stresses are forces per area.
Unit is N/m2 or Pa.
• Viscous stresses denoted by .
• Suffix notation ij is used to
indicate direction.
• Nine stress components.
– xx, yy, zz are normal stresses.
E.g. zz is the stress in the z-
direction on a z-plane.
– Other stresses are shear
stresses. e.g. zy is the stress in
the y-direction on a z-plane.
• Forces aligned with the direction
of a coordinate axis are positive.
Opposite direction is negative.
 Momentum Equation
Forces in the x-direction

Net force in the x-direction is the sum of all the force components in that direction.
Momentum Equation
 Momentum Equation

Summing net forces in all the directions and

dividing by the volume

plus
– the body forces. These are usually lumped together into a source term (per unit
volume per unit time) SM

Similarly for y- and z-momentum:

 Viscous Stresses

• A model for the viscous stresses τij is required.

• We will express the viscous stresses as functions of the local
deformation rate (strain rate) tensor.
• There are two types of deformation:
– Linear deformation rates due to velocity gradients.
• Elongating stress components (stretching).
• Shearing stress components.
– Volumetric deformation rates due to expansion or compression.
• All gases and most fluids are isotropic: viscosity is a scalar.
• Some fluids have anisotropic viscous stress properties, such as
certain polymers and dough. We will not discuss those here.
 Viscous Stress Tensor
• Using an isotropic (first) dynamic viscosity µ for the linear
deformations and a second viscosity λ=-2/3 µ (for gases) for the volumetric
deformations results in:
 Navier-Stokes Equations
• Including the viscous stress terms in the momentum balance and
rearranging, results in the Navier-Stokes equations:
 Navier-Stokes Equations
• Rearrange the viscous stress terms

simplify the momentum equations by ‗hiding‘

the bracketed smaller contributions to the
viscous stress terms in the momentum source.
Defining a new source by
 Navier-Stokes Equations

Non-conservative Form Conservative Form

Momentum Equation

X-momentum

Y-momentum

Z-momentum
 Energy Equation

• Rate of increase of energy is  DE/Dt.

• Energy E = i + ½ (u2 +v2 +w2).
• Here, i is the internal (thermal energy).
• ½ (u2+v2+w2) is the kinetic energy.
• Potential energy (gravitation) is usually treated separately and
included as a source term.
 Energy Equation

• Rate of increase of energy of a fluid particle per unit volume

 Energy Equation
Work done by surface stresses in x-direction

Work done = force x velocity

 Energy Equation
Work done by surface stresses in x-direction
 Energy Equation
Work done by surface stresses in x-direction

The net rate of work done by these surface

forces acting in the x-direction is
given by

y- and z-direction

The terms containing pressure can be collected

together and written more compactly in vector
form
 Energy Equation
Total rate of work done on the fluid particle by surface stresses:
 Energy Equation
Energy flux due to heat conduction

The heat flux vector q has three components, qx, qy, and qz.
 Energy Equation
Energy flux due to heat conduction
x-direction

y- and z-direction

The total rate of heat added to the fluid particle per unit volume due to heat
flow across its boundaries
 Energy Equation
Energy flux due to heat conduction

Fourier‘s law of heat conduction relates the heat flux to the local temperature
gradient. So

vector form combining with

Rate of heat addition to the fluid particle due to heat conduction across
element boundaries:
 Energy Equation
• Setting the total derivative for the energy in a fluid particle equal
to the previously derived work and energy flux terms, results in
the following energy equation:

• Note that we also added a source term SE that includes sources

(potential energy, sources due to heat production from chemical
reactions, etc.).
 Energy Equation
• Separately, we can derive a conservation equation for the kinetic
energy of the fluid.
• In order to do this, we multiply the u-momentum equation by u,
the v-momentum equation by v, and the w-momentum equation
by w. We then add the results together.
• This results in the following equation for the kinetic energy:
 Energy Equation
• Subtract the kinetic energy equation from the energy equation.
• Define a new source term for the internal energy as
Si= SE - u.SM. This results in:

For the special case of an incompressible fluid we have i = cT where c is the

specific heat and div u = 0.
 Energy Equation
• An often used alternative form of the energy equation is the total
enthalpy equation.
– Specific enthalpy h = i + p/ρ.
– Total enthalpy h0 = h + ½ (u2+v2+w2) = E + p/ρ.
 Internal Energy Equation

• If we use the Newtonian model for viscous stresses in the internal energy
Equation, we obtain after some rearrangement
Internal energy:

• Here Φ is the viscous dissipation term. This term is always

positive and describes the conversion of mechanical energy to
heat.
 Equations of State

• Fluid motion is described by five partial differential equations for

mass, momentum, and energy.
• Amongst the unknowns are four thermodynamic variables: ρ, p, i,
and T.
• We will assume thermodynamic equilibrium, i.e. that the time it
takes for a fluid particle to adjust to new conditions is short
relative to the timescale of the flow.
• We add two equations of state using the two state variables ρ and
T: p=p(ρ,T) and i=i(ρ,T).
• For a perfect gas, these become: p=ρ RT and i=CvT.
• At low speeds (e.g. Ma < 0.2), the fluids can be considered
incompressible. There is no linkage between the energy equation,
and the mass and momentum equation. We then only need to
solve for energy if the problem involves heat transfer.
Equations in Conservation Form
 Equations in conservation form

• They are a coupled system of nonlinear partial differential equations, and

hence are very difficult to solve analytically. To date, there is no general
closed-form solution to these equations. (This does not mean that no general
solution exists we just have not been able to find one.)

• For the momentum and energy equations, the difference between the non
conservation and conservation forms of the equations is just the left-hand
side. The right-hand side of the equations in the two different forms is the
same.

• Note that the conservation forms of the equations contain terms on the left-
hand side which include the divergence of some quantity. For this reason,
the conservation form of the governing equations is sometimes called the
divergence form.

• The normal and shear stress terms in these equations are functions of the
velocity gradients.
 General Transport Equation
• The system of equations is now closed, with seven equations for seven
variables: pressure, three velocity components, enthalpy, temperature,
and density.
• There are significant commonalities between the various equations.
Using a general variable φ, the conservative form of all fluid flow
equations can usefully be written in the following form:

Rate of Change Term Convective Term Diffusive Term Source Term

 General Transport Equation

Rate of Change Term Convective Term Diffusive Term Source Term

 Integral Form
The key step of the finite volume method is to integrate the differential equation
shown in the previous slide

• Applying Gauss Divergence Theorem which for a vector a states:

• This then leads to the following general conservation equation in integral

form:
 Integral Form
In steady state problems the rate of change term of is equal to zero. This leads to
the integrated form of the steady transport equation:
 Conservative Vs. Non-conservative Forms

• The conservation form of the governing equations provides a

numerical and computer programing convenience in that the
continuity, momentum, and energy equations in conservation
form can all be expressed by the same generic equation.
• This can help to simplify and organize the logic in a given
computer program.
• To prepare us for this generic form, note that all the previous
equations in conservation form have a divergence term on the
left-hand side. These terms involve the divergence of the flux
of some physical quantity
Equations in Conservation Form
Flux vector formulation of the N-S equations
• The most convenient form of the above equations for usage in CFD (i.e. for
programming convenience) is the flux vector formulation.
• What is a flux? We can observe that in the conservation forms of the N-S
equations, the following flux terms appear

Flux Variables

• When the volume is fixed in space, we are concerned with the flux of mass,
momentum, and energy into and out of the volume.
• In this case, the fluxes themselves become important dependent variables in the
equations, rather than just the primitive variables such as ρ, p, V
Flux vector formulation of the N-S equations

Solution Vector
Source Terms

Flux Vectors
 Conservative Vs. Non-conservative Forms

• Large discontinuity in the dependent primitive

variables. This in tum would compound the
numerical errors associated with the
calculation of primitive variables.

• Conservation form of the equations see no

discontinuity in this dependent variable in the
normal direction across the shock wave.
 Euler Equations
• Inviscid flow is, by definition, a flow where the dissipative, transport phenomena of
viscosity, mass diffusion, and thermal conductivity are neglected.
Euler Equations
Euler Equations
 Boundary Conditions
• Once we have the governing flow equations, then the real driver for any particular
solution is the boundary conditions.
• Some BCs used in CFD:
Boundary Conditions
Boundary Conditions
Boundary Conditions

Periodic Outlet

Computational Domain

Periodic Inlet