ME651 Problem Set 1 (Math Preliminaries,

Kinematics)
1. Cartesian tensor notation problems

(a) Show ij xj = xi (show explicitly, expanding the summations)

xi
(b) Show xj = ij
r xi
(c) Show xi = r , where r = (x x)1/2 (Use Cartesian tensor Notation)
(d) Use the relations i = ijk Wjk and ijk lmk = il jm im jl to show
that Wij = 12 ijk k . Here Wij = Wji .

2. Starting with the Navier Stokes equation for u(x, t):

 
u
+ u u = P + 2 u (1)
t
where (x, t) is the density field, P (x, t) is the pressure field and is the
dynamic viscosity of the fluid

(a) Use Cartesian tensor notation to show that the advection term is given
as u u = 21 u u + u, where = u is the vorticity field
(b) Use Cartesian tensor notation to take the Curl of equation (1), and show
that, for constant density, the equation for = u is given by:

+ u = u + 2 (2)
t
where = / is the kinematic viscosity.

3. Consider a rigid object with some arbitrary shape, represented by the volume
V , completely immersed in a quiescent incompressible fluid of density . If
the pressure field in the fluid is P (x), then the force acting on the object can
R
be given as F = V P ndS, where n is the normal vector at any point on
the surface V , and dS is the differential surface element. In Cartesian tensor
notation, we can write P ni = P ij nj

(a) From hydrostatics, show that P = P0 gxj j2 (x is the position vector,

g is acceleration due to gravity acting in the j direction, is density and
P0 is a constant).

1
 (b) Now use the divergence theorem for second order tensors to prove Archimedes
principle: A body totally immersed in a fluid is subject to an upward
force equal in magnitude to the weight of fluid it displaces.

4. The velocity components in an unsteady plane flow are given by u = x/(1 + t)

and v = 2y/(2 + t). Determine equations for the streamlines and pathlines,
subject to x = x0 at t = 0.

5. For the flow field u(x) = U + x, where U and are constant linear and
angular velocity vectors, use Cartesian coordinates to show that (a) strain rate
ui u
tensor Sij is zero and (b) determine rotation tensor Rij = x j
xji

6. For a smooth single valued function F (x) that depends only on space, and
an arbitrary shaped control volume that moves with a velocity b(t), where t
R
is time, show, using Reynolds transport theorem, that d/dt V (t) F (x)dV =
R
b ( V (t) F (x)dV )

7. Show that, for a velocity field u(x), u can be shown to be a second order
tensor (hint: start by writing coordinate transformation relations for u and x)

8. A small thermocouple probe floats over water, in which the velocity and tem-
perature fields are given by: u = (2x, y + 3t2 y, 2) and T = 2x2 + yz + t. Find
the rate of change of temperature w.r.t. time recorded by the thermocouple
when it is at a position x = (3, 1, 3) and t = 1

9. In the class, we showed that, under coordinate transformation, the unit vectors
along the axes, ei , rotate to e0i , and that the stress tensor components in the
new coordinate frame are given as ij 0 = C C , where C = e e0 . For a
lm li mj ij i j
2D stress tensor, show that, for a coordinate frame rotation of , we can say:

0 11 22
12 = 12 cos 2 sin 2 (3)
2
0 is maximized ? What are
What are the angles for which the magnitude of 12
0 is equal to zero ?
the angles for which 12