The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to fluid dynamics: In physics, physical chemistry, and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids – liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including aerodynamics (the study of air and other gases in motion) and hydrodynamics (the study of water and other liquids in motion). Fluid dynamics has a wide range of applications, including calculating forces and moments on aircraft, determining the mass flow rate of petroleum through pipelines, predicting weather patterns, understanding nebulae in interstellar space, understanding large scale geophysical flows involving oceans/atmosphere and modelling fission weapon detonation. Below is a structured list of topics in fluid dynamics.
What is fluid dynamics? Fluid dynamics can be described as all of the following:
An academic discipline – one with academic departments, curricula and degrees; national and international societies; and specialized journals. A scientific field (a branch of science) – widely recognized category of specialized expertise within science, and typically embodies its own terminology and nomenclature. Such a field will usually be represented by one or more scientific journals, where peer-reviewed research is published. A natural science – one that seeks to elucidate the rules that govern the natural world using empirical and scientific methods. A physical science – one that studies non-living systems. A branch of physics – study of matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. A branch of mechanics – area of mathematics and physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among physical objects. A branch of continuum mechanics – subject that models matter without using the information that it is made out of atoms; that is, it models matter from a macroscopic viewpoint rather than from microscopic. A subdiscipline of fluid mechanics – branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids (liquids, gases, and plasmas) and the forces on them, which also includes hydrostatics as a subdiscipline A subdiscipline of fluid mechanics – branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids (liquids, gases, and plasmas) and the forces on them. A branch of dynamics (mechanics) – subject that studies forces and motion.
Branches of fluid dynamics Acoustic theory – Theory of sound waves Aerodynamics – Branch of dynamics concerned with studying the motion of air Aeroelasticity – Interactions among inertial, elastic, and aerodynamic forces Computational fluid dynamics – Analysis and solving of problems that involve fluid flows Flow measurement – Quantification of bulk fluid movement Electrohydrodynamics – Study of electrically conducting fluids in the presence of electric fields Magnetohydrodynamics – Model of electrically conducting fluids Topological fluid dynamics Quantum hydrodynamics – Topic in condensed matter physics
History of fluid dynamics
History of fluid dynamics
Mathematical equations and concepts Airy wave theory – Fluid dynamics theory on gravity waves Benjamin–Bona–Mahony equation Boussinesq approximation (water waves) – Approximation valid for weakly non-linear and fairly long waves Boundary conditions in fluid dynamics – Constraints to computational problems Boundary conditions in computational fluid dynamics Elementary flow Euler equations (fluid dynamics) – Set of quasilinear hyperbolic equations governing adiabatic and inviscid flow Relativistic Euler equations – Generalization of Euler equations Helmholtz's theorems – 3D motion of fluid near vortex lines Kirchhoff equations – Motion of rigid body in ideal fluid Knudsen equation – Description of gas flow in free molecular flow Manning equation – Estimate of velocity in open channel flowsPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Mild-slope equation – Physics phenomenon and formula Morison equation – Equation for force on an object in sea waves Navier–Stokes equations – Equations of motion for viscous fluids Oseen flow – Formulae for viscous and incompressible fluid flow at small Reynolds numbersPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Poiseuille's law – Law describing the pressure drop in an incompressible and Newtonian fluidPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Pressure head – In fluid mechanics, the height of a liquid column Rayleigh's equation (fluid dynamics) – Theoretical model of shear fluid flow Stokes stream function – Function in fluid dynamics Stream function – Function for incompressible divergence-free flows in two dimensions Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines – Field lines in a fluid flowPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Torricelli's Law – Theorem in fluid mechanicsPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
Types of fluid flow Aerodynamic force – Force exerted on a body as it moves through air or gas Convection – Fluid flow that occurs due to heterogeneous fluid properties and body forces Cavitation – Low-pressure voids formed in liquids Compressible flow – Branch of fluid mechanics Couette flow – Model of viscous fluid flow between two surfaces moving relative to each other Effusive limit Free molecular flow – Gas flow with a relatively large mean free molecular path Incompressible flow – Fluid flow in which density remains constant Inviscid flow – Flow of fluids with zero viscosity (superfluids) Isothermal flow – Model of fluid flow Open channel flow – Type of liquid flow within a conduitPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Pipe flow – Type of liquid flow within a closed conduit Pressure-driven flow Secondary flow – Relatively minor flow superimposed on the primary flow by inviscid assumptions Stream thrust averaging – Process to convert 3D flow into 1D Superfluidity – Fluid which flows without losing kinetic energy Transient flow – Aspects of fluid mechanics involving fluid flowPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Two-phase flow – Flow of gas and liquid in the same conduit
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