CHAPTER ONE

Fundamental Aspects

Introduction

The compressibility of a fluid is, basically, a measure of the change in density that
will be produced in the fluid by a specific change in pressure and temperature. In
general, gases are highly compressible and liquids have a very low compressibility.
A compressible gas can also be considered as incompressible with constant  if
changes in elevation are small, acceleration is small and temperature changes are
negligible. The study on the compressible flow where the speeds comparable to or
exceed the speed of sound and causing a significant change in temperature and
pressure is called gas dynamics.

Gas dynamics: deals with the study of fluid flow when it is in motion. It analyses
the high speed flows of gases and vapors with considering its compressibility.

Applications

 Aircraft design
 Gas and steam turbines, fans and pumps
 Combustion chambers
 Nozzles and diffusers
 One dimensional isentropic flow-compressible pipe flow.

The fundamental assumptions in the study of compressible flow are as follow;

1. The gas is continuous.

2. The gas is perfect (obeys the perfect gas law)
3. Gravitational effects on the flow field are negligible.
4. Magnetic and electrical effects are negligible.
5. The effects of viscosity are negligible.

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Basic Equations of Compressible Fluid Flow

The basic equations of compressible fluid flow are;

i. Continuity equation
ii. Momentum equation
iii. Energy equation and
iv. Equation of state

Let us apply mass, momentum and energy equations for the one dimensional flow
as shown in Fig. 1.

Continuity Equation

The continuity equation is obtained by applying the principle of conservation of

mass to flow through a control volume:

……………………….(1.1)

……………………….(1.2)

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Momentum Equation

...........(1.3)

Energy Equation

……………………………(1.4)

Where

h Enthalphy per unit mass

V Velocity

q Heat transferred into the control volume per unit mass of fluid

w Work done by the fluid per unit mass

If we limit our discussion on the flow in which no work is done and calorically
perfect gases are being considered, i.e. w=0 and h=CpT, then the energy equation
becomes

………………………..(1.5)

Fig.(1) Schematic representation of one-dimensional flow.

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Equation of State

The form of the perfect gas equation normally used in gas dynamics is

p= ρRT…………………..(1.6)

Entropy consideration

In the analysis of compressible flow, another flow variable, the entropy s, has to be
introduced to ensure the physically possible of the flow. The entropy changes
between two points in flow in stated as

………………………….(1.7)
𝑐𝑝
𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑅 = 𝑐𝑝 − 𝑐𝑣 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑘 =
𝑐𝑣

, and 𝑝 = 𝜌𝑅𝑇

, then Eq. (1.7) can be rewritten as

………..(1.8)

If there is no change in entropy, i.e isentropic flow, the equation becomes

………………………………….(1.9)
𝑝
Here we can see that in isentropic flow, is a constant.
𝜌𝑘

From the perfect gas law which states that

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 …………………………………….(1.10)

We get:

… ………………………….(1.11)

Speed of Sound and Mach number

Let us analyze the piston dynamics as shown in Fig. (2)

(a). If the piston moves at steady velocity dV , the compression wave moves at
speed of sound a stationary gas. This infinitesimal disturbance creates increase in
pressure and density next to the piston and in front of the wave. The same effect
can be observed by keeping the wave stationary through dynamic transformation as
shown in Fig. 2

(b). Now all basic one dimensional compressible flow equations can be applied for

a very small control enclosing the stationary wave.

Fig.(2) Propagation of pressure wave in a compressible medium

Continuity equation: Mass flow rate (𝑚̇ ) is conserved across the stationary
wave.

………………………..(1.12)

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Momentum equation: As long as the compression wave is thin, the shear forces
on the control volume are negligibly small compared to the pressure force. The
momentum balance across the control volume leads to the following equation;

………………………..(1.13)

Energy equation: Since the compression wave is thin, and the motion is very
rapid,the heat transfer between the control volume and the surroundings may be
neglected and the thermodynamic process can be treated as adiabatic. Steady flow
energy equation can be used for energy balance across the wave.

………………………………….(1.14)

Entropy equation: In order to decide the direction of thermodynamic process,

one can apply T ds relation along with Eqs (1.13& 1.14) across the compression
wave.

………………………………………(1.15)

Thus, the flow is isentropic across the compression wave and this compression
wave can now be called as sound wave. The speed of the sound wave can be
computed by equating Eqs.(1.12 & 1.13).
𝑎 𝑑𝜌 𝑑𝑝 𝑑𝑝 𝜕𝑝
= → 𝑎2 = = ( ) … … … … … … … … … . . (1.16)
𝜌 𝜌𝑎 𝑑𝜌 𝜕𝜌 𝑠

Further simplification of Eq. (1.16) is possible by evaluating the differential with

the use of isenropic equation.
𝑝
Since = 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠.
𝜌𝑘

…………………………………….(1.17)

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Differentiate Eq. (1.17) and apply perfect gas equation (𝑝 = 𝜌𝑅𝑇 ) = to obtain the
expression for speed of sound.is obtained as below;

𝑎 = √𝑘𝑅𝑇……………………………………..(1.18)

The bulk modulus of elasticity (Ev) of fluid is defined as

…………………………………………….(1.19)

Thus in general:

𝐸
𝑎 = √ 𝜌𝑣………………………………………………(1.20)

This equation applies to liquids as well as gases.

Mach Number

Another dimensionless parameter that can be used to measure the compressibility

of fluid is the Mach number, Ma. The Mach number is defined as the ratio of the
value of the local flow velocity, V, to the local speed of sound, a. In other word

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 𝑉
𝑀 = 𝑎……………………………(1.21)
Depending on the value of Mach number, the flow can be classified as follows:

• Ma < 0.3 : Incompressible flow

• 0.3 < Ma < 0.8 : Subsonic flow

• 0.8 < Ma < 1.2 : Transonic flow

• 1.2 <Ma < 3.0 : Supersonic flow

• Ma > 3.0 : Hypersonic flow