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Copyright (c) 1998 Lucia M. Liljegren. All rights reserved.

8. CONTROL VOLUME 1

8.1. Types of questions and required skills 2

8.2. Preliminaries 2
8.2.1. What does one do with a control volume? 2
8.2.2. What is a control volume? 3
8.2.3. What is a control surface? 3

8.3. Preliminaries 4
8.3.1. How to specify the outward facing unit normal on a control surface. 4
8.3.2. How to draw a control volume (CV). 5

8.4. Overall Method: How to determine the volumetric flow rate through a control
surface. 6
8.4.1. How to determine the volumetric flow rate through a surface 7
8.4.2. Simplified method: How to determine the volumetric flow rate through a surface when flow is
uniform. 7
8.4.3. Method 3: How to determine the volume inside a control volume. 7

8.5. Applications. 8
8.5.1. Application of method 8.4.1. 8
8.5.2. Application 8.4.2: Flow is uniform at a surface. 10

8. Control Volume
Special notes for chapter’s 7,8 and 9.
This document is still being written. At student request, it is being made available at a very
preliminary stage . A large number of formatting issues are being deferred until the author
has decided on the best overall organization. Because some formatting issues have not
been decided, formats will be inconsistent for the time being.

Due to its very preliminary status, EM 378 students should be aware of the following
format items:

In general, there will be inconsistency in vector notations; some include the ^ over the
vector, some do not.

Figures are consistently referred to as “figure x”. This will persist until Dr. Liljegren has
finished composing the document. Generally, the figures are called out on the page where
they appear.

Figures appear in color on the web page. They will appear in black and white when printed
on a conventional printer.

Excel spread sheets with many of the intermediate numerical quantities are provided at the
end of applications. These are not intended for the reader, but exist for convenience of
composition. They will be eliminated in final versions.

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Some sections contain no information. When this occurs, the section will note that whether
the topic is immediately important to EM378.

See the introduction for recommendations on how to use this work book. The sections are
organized to provide all required information prior to the application. However, many
students will prefer reading solutions in Section 8.5 before reading Section 8.4. They
may then use section 8.4 when solving their own homework problems.

8.1. Types of questions and required skills

In preparation

8.2. Preliminaries

8 . 2 . 1 . What does one do with a control volume?

When solving a problem, a student must know how to:

1. recognize when a control volume approach is useful.

2. select a convenient control volume for the problem at hand.
3. apply the appropriate physical laws to the control volume.
4. organize the solution to find the correct answer.

This section is designed to teach the student important features about control volumes so
that they can later apply them to solve simple engineering problems. The “how to” topics
focus on items 2, 3 and 4 above. In the workbooks, bullet 4 is handled very cursorily. It
is assume that students must be able to solve a problem using the control volume approach
before they can recognize which problems can be solved in this way.

For the time being, the work book only addresses problems where exactly 1 physical law is
required for the solution. Exams and homework will include problems that involve more
than 1 physical law to solve. In later versions of this workbook, problems requiring more
than 1 physical law will be illustrated. These are already illustrated in class.

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8 . 2 . 2 . What is a control volume?

A control volume is a volume in space that has been selected by the analyst. Physical laws
of the universe can be applied to the contents of the control volume. So, for example, if
mass is conserved everywhere in the universe, then it is possible to say that mass is
conserved in the control volume.

A cartoon of a control volume chosen by the author is illustrated below. I have

intentionally chosen the word cartoon because the figure is realistic only in the sense that it
captures the essential features of the physical system. Non-essential features need not be
included.

In the cartoon, the red dotted rectangle represents the outer boundary of the chosen control
volume. The contents are everything inside the control volume, including moving fluid,
stationary fluid and hardware. For this case, the contents of the control volume consists of
a pipe, a flange some fluid.

In this particular control volume, fluid enters and exits the volume through two surfaces,
labeled 1 and 2 in figure 8.2.1. Fluid flows through the pipe. Otherwise, the contents of
the control volume are motionless.

It is often convenient to include pertinent information on the control volume sketch. Notice
the velocity profiles are illustrated in dark red on this sketch; the profile on the right is
nearly uniform, the profile on the left varies slightly with radial position.

Figure 8.2.1
1 2

8 . 2 . 3 . What is a control surface?

A control surface is the outer boundary of the control volume. See the dotted red line on
figure 8.2.1. The control surface can take on any shape chosen by the analyst. In the
cartoon drawn, the control surface appears as a rectangle. It is often convenient to break
the entire surface up into several sub-surfaces. In the figure illustrated, the entire control
surface has been broken up into 3 surfaces: A vertical plane on the left, labeled 1, a vertical
plane on the right labeled 2, and a cylindrical plane surrounding the pipe and flange labeled
3.

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8.3. Preliminaries

8 . 3 . 1 . How to specify the outward facing unit normal on a control surface.

1. Select a point on the control surface.

2. Place the base of an arrow at that point; orient the arrow pointing out of the control
volume. Label the length of the arrow equal to 1 unit..
3. Identify a desirable coordinate system for the problem at hand.
4. Apply the rules of trigonometry to find the components of the unit vector.

These steps are illustrated using the control volume shown in figure 8.3.1. These steps
will be applied to subsurface 1. The components of the unit normal vectors are also
illustrated for surface 2 and 3.

Surface 1: the left hand control surface is illustrated with a red dotted line.
1. The center of the surface is chosen.
2. A green arrow of length 1 is illustrated on surface 1.
3. Identify a desirable coordinate system. Note the “x and y” axes have been selected and
are illustrated in the corner of the figure.
4. The vector in the “x” direction is “i” that in the “y” direction is “j”. The components of
the unit normal vector have been found and are illustrated in the caption. These are n=-
1i + 0j.

Surfaces 2 & 3. The unit normal vectors are illustrated in green. Notice that the unit
normal vectors point out of the control volume. Notice that they are all of length 1. The
components are given in the illustrated x, y coordinate system.

Figure 8.3.1.

3 n = 0i+1j 2

1 n =+cos 15 i + sin 15 j

n = -1i+0j 150

y
x

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8 . 3 . 2 . How to draw a control volume (CV).

A control volume (cv) may be drawn anyway you wish; however some choices simplify
analysis. The following guidelines will often simplify later analysis :

• Sketch a cartoon of the flow situation showing the significant details. (e.g. sketch a
pipe with flow coming in and going out.)
• Sketch a control volume around regions being analyzed.
• Any control surfaces cutting across solid surfaces (e.g. pipe walls, concrete etc.)
should be located where the pressure and velocity are known. When possible, they
should be located where the velocity and pressure are uniform (meaning the magnitudes
of pressure and velocity don’t vary across the control surface). When possible, these
control surfaces should be drawn perpendicular to the streamlines.
• Draw most of the control surfaces outside the hardware. The pressure is usually
known to be atmospheric outside the component, and there is generally no flow outside
the components.
• Select and sketch a coordinate system for reporting the final solution. In this figure, the
x, y coordinate system is shown.
• Add arrows somewhere in the control volume to represent the anchoring forces, if there
are any.
• Sketch the unit normal vectors on the control surfaces; these are illustrated in green.
• Add arrows to represent the weight of the contents and an arrow to represent the
direction of gravity.
• List the magnitudes of any known pressures, densities, velocities or areas near the
control surfaces. Otherwise, make a table to organize the “knowns”.

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Some of these rules are applied to the control volume in the figure below. The elbow turns
in the horizontal plane.

Figure 8.3.2
n = 0i+1j
3 2

1 Ry

Rx

n = -1i+0j n =+cos 15 i + sin 15 j

150

y
x

• Control surfaces are shown in dark red. Those at 1 and 2 are perpendicular to the pipe
wall in the region where they cut through the pipe. They are also perpendicular to the
streamlines at these points.
• Surface 3 is drawn outside the hardware. The pressure is atmospheric there, and there
is no flow.
• The x, y coordinate system used for the solution is illustrated in black.
• The anchoring forces are illustrated in blue. They happen to be shown acting on the
flange.
• Add arrows to represent the weight of the contents. In this figure, weight acts into the
paper, so no vector for weight appears on the figure.

A table has been made to organize the magnitude of any known quantities. Columns are
not filled out, because this example didn’t provide the information. Generally, information
related to the external control surfaces (i.e. surface “3” ) is irrelevant to problems of this
type, and is ignored.
Control Pressure Velocity Area Diameter Density
surface
1 4m 999 kg/m3 (water)
2 4m
3 0 gage 0 ? irrelevant irrelevant

8.4. Overall Method: How to determine the volumetric flow rate through a
control surface.

In this section, it is assumed that the velocity profile is known. Some homework problems
will require students to find a volumetric flow rate when the velocity profile is not known.
Such problems always involve applying some physical law to a control volume., (e.g.
conservation of mass). These physical laws are described in chapters 8, 9 and 10.

N.B. It is acceptable to use more than one coordinate system during a full analysis.
However, the analyst must keep track of which is being used at any time.

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Copyright (c) 1998 Lucia M. Liljegren. All rights reserved.

8 . 4 . 1 . How to determine the volumetric flow rate through a surface

1. Identify a control surface.

2. Identify a convenient local coordinate system for determining flow through the surface.
This system should have one axis parallel to the unit normal vector for surface. The
other two axes are in the plane of the surface.
3. Identify the velocity vector in the convenient coordinate system.
4. Identify the unit normal vector in the coordinate system just used for the velocity
vector.
5. Obtain the component of the velocity “leaving” the control volume. That is, perform
the scalar product of velocity and the unit normal vector.Vout = vˆ • nˆ . (The quantity
Vout is not a vector. The magnitude will be identical in any chosen coordinate system.)
6. Identify a relation for the differential surface, dA, of interest.
7. Use the expressions for the differential area and vˆ • nˆ to determine the differential flow
rate dQout = Vout dA = vˆ • nˆdA
8. Identify the bounds of the integral.
9. Integrate the differential flow rate over the entire surface of interest.
Qout = ∫∫ dQout = ∫∫ Vout dA
A A
10. If the problem asks for volumetric flow rate through the surface, take the absolute value
of the flow leaving the control volume Q = Qout
11. Double check units!

8 . 4 . 2 . Simplified method: How to determine the volumetric flow rate through a

surface when flow is uniform.
1. Identify a control surface.
2. Identify a convenient local coordinate system for determining flow through the surface.
This system should have one axis parallel to the unit normal vector for surface. The
other two axes are in the plane of the surface.
3. Identify the velocity vector in the convenient coordinate system.
4. Identify the unit normal vector in the coordinate system just used for the velocity
vector.
5. Obtain the component of the velocity “leaving” the control volume. That is, perform
the scalar product of velocity and the unit normal vector.V out = vˆ • nˆ . (With practice,
you can obtain Vout immediately without actually writing down the last two steps.)
6. Identify a relation for the entire cross-sectional area A.
7. Use the following short cut, which is equivalent to integrating as in method 8.4.1..
• Qout = Vout A = vˆ • nˆ A
8. If the problem simple asks for the volume flow rate through the surface, take the
absolute value. Q = Qout
9. Double check units!

8 . 4 . 3 . Method 3: How to determine the volume inside a control volume.

Deferred.

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8.5. Applications.

8 . 5 . 1 . Application of method 8.4.1.

Q1: A viscous fluid flows through a 10 cm diameter circular pipe which turns as illustrated.
The velocity at 2 flows out of the pipe; the magnitude of the velocity varies with radial
position r in the pipe as w z˜ ( r) = 240 ( ms) ( 0.0025 m2 − r 2 ) . Where the units of “r”
−1

is m. The “z” coordinate system is parallel to the unit normal vector shown.

Determine the flowrate through surface 2.

Coordinate system 1 (x,y):

n 2 =+cos 15 i + sin 15 j
Coordinate system 2 (r,θ,z)
nˆ = 0eˆr + 0eˆθ + 1eˆz

3 n = 0i+1j
r

1 2
wz

n = -1i+0j r, z coordinate
150
system.

y
x

1. Identify a control surface.

• The appropriate control surface is labeled (2).
2. Identify a convenient local coordinate system.
• For this problem, a convenient coordinate system for surface 2 is: r, θ, z with r=0
at the center of the pipe and z along the pipe axis. This system is illustrated in
blue.
3. Identify the velocity vector in the convenient coordinate system.
• The velocity in a pipe flows parallel to the pipe walls. The profile is illustrated in
dark red.
• The “z” component of the velocity at this point is
w z˜ ( r) = 240 ( ms) ( 0.0025 m2 − r 2 ) . The θ and r components are both equal
−1

to zero.
[
• The velocity vector is uˆ = 0eˆ r + 0eˆθ + 240 ( ms) (0.0025 m 2 − r 2 ) eˆz .
−1
]
4. Identify the unit normal vector in the coordinate system just used for the velocity
vector.
• The unit normal vector is illustrated in green and points diagonally up and to the
right.

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• nˆ = 0eˆ r + 0eˆθ + 1eˆz

5. Obtain the component of the velocity “leaving” the control volume.
• Vout = vˆ • nˆ = 240 ( ms) (0.0025 m 2 − r2 ) .
−1

6. Identify a relation for the differential surface, dA.

• dA = r dθ dr
7. Use the expressions for the differential area and vˆ • nˆ to determine the differential flow
rate
[
• dQout = vˆ • nˆ dA = 240 (ms ) (0.0025 m2 − r 2 ) [ rdrdθ]
−1
]
8. Identify the bounds of the integral.
• The bounds for the integral are; 0 < r < 0.005 m (the pipe radius is 0.005 m); and
0<θ<2π.

∫ ∫ [240 ( ms) −1 (0.0025 m 2 − r 2 )] [rdrdθ ]

0.05m 2π

• Qout = ∫∫ dQout =
A 0 θ =0

• Integrate the differential flow rate over the entire surface of interest.
2π

∫ [240 )]rdr ∫ [dθ ]

r= 0.05m

Qout = (ms ) −1
(0.0025 m −r
2 2

0 θ= 0

 r r  r = 0.05m
2 4

= 2π 240 ( ms)− 1 0.0025 m 2 −  r =0 = 2.36x10 −3 m s

3

 2 4
• This quantity is positive because fluid flows out through surface 2.
9. If the problem asks for volumetric flow rate through the surface, take the absolute value
of the flow leaving the control volume Q = Qout
• Q = 2.4 x 10 -3 m3 /s
10.
11. Double check units!
• Q is in m3 /s as it should be.

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8 . 5 . 2 . Application 8.4.2: Flow is uniform at a surface.

Q2: Air flows through the 2m square duct illustrated. The velocity is uniform at both 1 and
2. Determine the volumetric flow rate through surface 1.

1 2
V = 0.5 m/s

D = 2m

V = 0.5 m/s
y

1. Identify a control surface.

• Control surface 1 is illustrated with a dotted red surface on the left.
2. Identify a convenient local coordinate system for determining flow through the surface
• The x, y coordinate system shown in black is convenient in this case.
3. Identify the velocity vector in the convenient coordinate system.
• The velocity vector is illustrated in blue; flow is to the right at surface 1.
• v = 0.5 m/s ( +1i + 0j).
4. Identify the unit normal vector in the coordinate system just used for the velocity
vector.
• The unit normal vector is illustrated in green.
• On surface 1 the vector points to the left on surface 1 and n = (-1i + 0j).
5. Obtain the component of the velocity “leaving” the control volume.
• Vout = vˆ • nˆ = -0.5 m/s
• This is negative because flow is entering.
6. Identify a relation for the entire cross-sectional area A.
• The cross-sectional area of a 2 m square duct is A = (2m) (2m) = 4m2 .
7. Use the following short cut, which is equivalent to integrating as in method 8.4.1..
• Qout = Vout A = vˆ • nˆ A = -0.5 m/s 4 m 2 = -2 m3 /s.
• This is negative because fluid is flowing into the control volume at surface 1.
8. The volume flow rate through the surface has no sign. The absolute value.
Q = Qout =2 m3 /s
9. Double check units!
• Units are m3 /s which is correct for a volumetric flow rate.

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Spread sheet with values

ro location Vel A P D Radius nx Qout Mout Mout Ux Uniform method
??? 1 0.3 ??? 0.1 0.05 -1 -2.36E-03 ##### ##### #####
pi 2 240 0.0025 ??? 0.1 0.05 1 2.36E-03 ##### #####
3.14159 Weight FPx Rx
1 0 #VALUE! #VALUE!
2 #VALUE!

Centerline vel 0.6 m/s

Edge vel 0 m/s

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