Describes streamlines, pathlines, and velocity fields.
Eulerian description tracks properties at points; Lagrangian follows particles. Streamlines are tangent to velocity; pathlines are particle trails; streaklines show dye. In steady flow they coincide. Acceleration includes convective terms: a=∂V/∂t+(V·∇)V.
A wind tunnel smoke line is a streakline.
Fluid kinematics describes how a flow moves, which is the first step in computing forces, energy and mixing in any flow system.
Describes streamlines, pathlines, and velocity fields.
Fluid kinematics describes how a flow moves, which is the first step in computing forces, energy and mixing in any flow system.
A line tangent to the velocity vector at every point at one instant, which shows the direction of flow.
A streamline is an instantaneous snapshot. A pathline follows a single fluid particle over time.
Typical applications include visualising the flow pattern around a pipe bend with streamlines, measuring the velocity field in a wind tunnel with particle image velocimetry and describing the motion of smoke plumes in a building fire model.
Study "Forces on submerged surfaces" first (topic 50 of 105 in Thermodynamics & Fluids). It covers the groundwork this topic builds on.
Material derivative. Vorticity. Rotational vs irrotational.
A wind tunnel smoke line is a streakline.
The next topic is "Continuity equation", which builds directly on this one.
It is classed as Intermediate in Thermodynamics & Fluids (topic 51 of 105). It is an intermediate topic. Work through the beginner topics in Thermodynamics & Fluids first.
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