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Define Continuity Equation

The continuity equation states that for steady, one-dimensional flow through a duct, the mass flow rate entering must equal the mass flow rate exiting over any given time period. It is a statement of mass conservation for fluid flow. A streamline is a line tangent to the instantaneous velocity direction at a point in a flow. Streamlines cannot cross except at stagnation points where the velocity is zero.

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125 views2 pages

Define Continuity Equation

The continuity equation states that for steady, one-dimensional flow through a duct, the mass flow rate entering must equal the mass flow rate exiting over any given time period. It is a statement of mass conservation for fluid flow. A streamline is a line tangent to the instantaneous velocity direction at a point in a flow. Streamlines cannot cross except at stagnation points where the velocity is zero.

Uploaded by

Githa Gul
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Define Continuity Equation....

When a fluid is in motion, it must move in such a way that mass is conserved. To
see how mass conservation places restrictions on the velocity field, consider
the steady flow of fluid through a duct (that is, the inlet and outlet flows do not
vary with time). The inflow and outflow are one-dimensional, so that the velocity
V and density \rho are constant over the area A (figure 14).

Figure 14. One-dimensional duct showing


control volume.

Now we apply the principle of mass conservation. Since there is no flow through
the side walls of the duct, what mass comes in over A_1 goes out of A_2, (the flow
is steady so that there is no mass accumulation). Over a short time interval \Delta t,

This is a statement of the principle of mass conservation for a steady, one-


dimensional flow, with one inlet and one outlet. This equation is called
the continuity equation for steady one-dimensional flow. For a steady flow
through a control volume with many inlets and outlets, the net mass flow must be
zero, where inflows are negative and outflows are positive.

Streamlines and Streamtubes

A streamline is a line that is tangential to the instantaneous velocity direction


(velocity is a vector, and it has a magnitude and a direction). To visualize this in a
flow, we could imagine the motion of a small marked element of fluid. For
example, we could mark a drop of water with fluorescent dye and illuminate it
using a laser so that it fluoresces. If we took a short exposure photograph as the
drop moves according to the local velocity field (where the exposure needs to be
short compared to the time it takes for the velocity to change appreciably), we
would see a short streak, with a length V \Delta t, and with a direction tangential to
the instantaneous velocity direction. If we mark many drops of water in this way,
the streamlines in the flow will become visible. Since the velocity at any point in
the flow has a single value (the flow cannot go in more than one direction at the
same time), streamlines cannot cross. except at points where the velocity
magnitude is zero, such as at a stagnation point.

There are other ways to make the flow visible. For example, we can trace out the
path followed by our fluorescent drop using a long-exposure photograph. This line
is called a pathline, and it is similar to what you see when you take a long-
exposure photograph of car lights on a freeway at night. It is possible for pathlines
to cross, as you can imagine from the freeway analogy: as a car changes lanes, the
pathline traced out by its lights might cross another pathline traced out by an
adjoining vehicle at a different time.

Another way to visualize flow patterns is by streaklines. A streakline is the line


traced out by all the particles that passed through a particular point at some earlier
time. For instance, if we issued fluorescent dye continuously from a fixed point,
the dye makes up a streakline as it passes downstream. To continue the freeway
analogy, it is the line made up of the lights on all the vehicles that passed through
the same toll booth. If they all follow the same path (a steady flow), a single line
results, but if they follow different paths (unsteady flow), it is possible for the line
to cross over itself. In unsteady flow, streamlines, pathlines and streaklines are all
different, but in steady flow, streamlines, pathlines and streaklines are
identical.

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