Lecture 1
Lecture 1
Textbooks
Aerodynamics as a Subject
• Study of the behavior of air as it interacts with objects in motion.
• Sub-branch of Fluid Mechanics
– Study of all fluids under static and dynamic situations
Movement of Sediments
Prediction of wind loads on buildings
AERO-213 : Incompressible Aerodynamics
Fundamental Concepts
Lecture : 1
References
T1/1.10.1, 2 & T3/1.2,6,7
What is a Fluid?
Types of Flows
Liquids form a free surface (that is, a surface not created by their container) whereas gases
and plasmas do not, but, instead, they expand and occupy the entire volume of the container
Fluid as a Continuum
Fluid as a Continuum: Views fluids as continuous substances without empty spaces or gaps
between particles.
No Empty Spaces: According to this hypothesis, there are no gaps or voids between
individual fluid particles.
Mean Free Path: The average distance between particle collisions in a fluid.
Knudsen Number: Compares the mean free path to the flow length scale .
S.I. unit :
Newtonian vs Non-Newtonian Fluids
Viscosity
• Fluid property only manifested during flow
Apparent viscosity
Newtonian vs Non-Newtonian Fluids
Non-Newtonian Fluids
• Shear thinning fluids : apparent
viscosity decreases with increasing
shear rate i.e. the harder the fluid is
sheared, the less viscous it becomes
(paint, ketchup etc)
• Shear thickening fluids : apparent
viscosity increases with increasing
shear rate i.e. the harder the fluid is
sheared, the more viscous it becomes
(mixture of cornstarch in water)
Inviscid versus Viscous Flow
• In fluid dynamics, inviscid flow is the flow of an inviscid (zero-viscosity) fluid,
also known as a superfluid / ideal fluid
• In viscous flow, transport phenomena such as mass diffusion, viscosity
(friction) and thermal conduction exist
• Confined to very thin region, adjacent to body surface ‘Boundary Layer’
• Inviscid theory adequately predicts pressure distribution and lift of a body
• Accurate drag prediction requires viscous effect
• Separated flows are also dominated by viscous effects
NO-SLIP CONDITION
• The speed of the fluid layer in direct contact with the
boundary is identical to the velocity of this boundary