DEPARTMENT OF OCEAN ENGINEERING IIT MADRAS
SLOT G OE4600 Advanced Ship Hydrodynamics January-May 2022
Lecture Notes # 01 17 January 2022
c Dr. P. Ananthakrishnan
I. Introduction
In the first few lectures, starting from here, I will review the derivations of equations of governing
fluid flow based on the principles of classical physics. the review notes is complete and self-readable,
but go over the notesreferences of earlier courses such as OE2044 Ship Hydrodynamics for details.
II. Equations Governing Fluid Flows: Based on Principles of Physics and Mathematical Identities
In Hydrodynamics and Fluid Mechanics in general, the governing equations are obtained using
principles and laws of classical physics, such as
• conservation of mass which states that mass is neither created nor destroyed
• balance of momentum which is the same as the Newtons II Law which states that the rate of
change of linear momentum of a body is equal to the sum of the external forces acting on the
body
• work-energy theorem as given by the First Law of Thermodynamics without heattransfer (in
this course)
• Newton’s law of gravitation which states that the force of attraction between two bodies, of
masses M and m separated by a distance R, is proportional to the product of the masses and
inversely proportional to the square of the separation distance; ie. F = GM m/R2 , where G
denotes the universal gravitational constant.
• etc,
mathematical identities and descriptions, such as the following.
• Gauss theorems (or) integral identities which can be used to transform a volume integral
~ denote a continuous vector field
into a surface integral (or vice versa). For example, let A
(function) and a a continuous scalar field (function) defined in region ∀ bounded by surface
S. Let n̂ be unit normal vector on S pointing outward of ∀. Then per Gauss theorem,
1
~ d∀ ≡ ~ · n̂ dS
R R
∀∇ ·A S A
R R
∀ ∇a d∀ ≡ S an̂ dS
• Reynold’s Transport theorem (Leibnitz theorem), as per which,
d R R ∂f R
dt ∀(t) f (x, y, z, t) d∀ ≡ ∀(t) ∂t d∀ ≡ + S f Vn dS, where Vn denotes the normal velocity of
the boundary surface S of time-dependent volume ∀. In the case of so-called material volume
(ie., that consisting of the same fluid particles), Vn will be equal to the normal component of
fluid velocity ~u on the boundary; ie., Vn = ~u · n̂ on S.
• Control-volume equation, as per which,
dBsys d R R
dt = dt ∀ ρβ d∀+ S ρβ~urel · n̂ dS where B denotes an extensive property, β the associated
intensive property, ρ fluid density, and ~urel · n̂ the normal velocity of fluid relative to boundary
velocity.
• Lagrangian and Eulerian descriptions of flow, by which we mean particle and field descrip-
tions of a flow, respectively. In classical physics, the particle (Lagrangian) description is
commonly followed as the conservation laws can be applied in a straightforward manner. In
fluid mechanics however, the Eulerian (field) description is commonly used. Both methods
are correct, if properly formulated. The preference for one method over the other is purely a
matter of convenience in a particular application.
Fluid particle acceleration in terms of particle velocity is simply,
~ (t + δt) − V
V ~ (t)
~a = lim
δt→0 δt
~ denotes the particle velocity. In terms of velocity field ~u(x, y, z, t), the particle
where V
acceleration is given by the total time derivative of ~u; in other words, the spatial variables
are not fixed but correspond to the trajectory of the particle. Thus in terms of velocity
d
~a ≡ ~u(x(t), y(t), z(t), t)
dt
which upon expansion becomes
∂u dx ∂~u dy ∂~u dz ∂~u
~a = + + +
∂t dt ∂x dt ∂y dt ∂z
where (u, v, w) corresponds to x, y, z components of ~u. As x(t), y(t), z(t) corresponds to fluid
trajectory, u = dx/dt, v = dy/dt and w = dz/dt. The expression for fluid particle acceleration
in terms of velocity field can therefore be written as
∂u ∂~u ∂~u ∂~u ∂u
~a = + u +v +w = + (~u · ∇)~u
∂t ∂x ∂y ∂z ∂t
2
The first term on the right is called the local acceleration and the second term the convective
acceleration. Note that conservation laws of mechanics are defined with respect to particle
∂u
acceleration (and not field acceleration ∂t ). The additional terms in the definition of particle
acceleration in terms of velocity field is a price to be paid for the convenience of studying a
flow using Eulerian description!
and various assumptions depending on the context, such as
• continuum hypothesis, in which the matter is assumed to be continuously distributed in space.
In reality, at the microscopic or atomic level, matter is NOT continuously distributed but are
discretly concentrated on particles that randomy move in time. In oceanography, or in any
branch of fluid mechanics in general, the interest is on only macroscopic behavior of a flow.
On the macroscopic level, one can define the medium to be a continuum. The continuum
hypothesis allows the definition of density ρ as mass per unit volume, or more precisely as
δm
ρ = lim
δΩ→0 δΩ
where δm denotes the mass of matter in the volume δΩ
• incompressible flow, in which particle density is assumed to be constant. It can be shown that
in the case of a flow in which the flow velocity is very small compared to the speed of sound
in the medium, the fluid can be assumed to be incompressible. Note that incompressibility
and homogeneity mean different aspects of a fluid. A fluid is said to be homogeneous, if its
density is same throughout the fluid. In the case of an incompressible fluid, on the other
hand, different particles may have different densities but their densities remain constant over
time as they move around because of the flow.
• inviscid flow, in which the viscosity effect is neglected. In this course we will deal with both
real and ideal fluid flows.
• etc
to simplify the governing equations.
More to come.
