The Most Famous �-numbers (from Wikipedia)

Mach Number
The Mach number (M or Ma) is a dimensionless quantity representing the ratio of flow
velocity past a boundary to the local speed of sound.

• is the local flow velocity with respect to the boundaries (m/s),

• is the speed of sound in the medium (m/s).

Reynolds Number
The Reynolds number is the ratio of inertial forces to viscous forces within a fluid which is
subjected to relative internal movement due to different fluid velocities, in what is known
as a boundary layer in the case of a bounding surface such as the interior of a pipe.

• is the density of the fluid (kg/m3),

• is the velocity of the fluid with respect to the object (m/s),
• is a characteristic linear dimension (m),
• is the dynamic viscosity of the fluid (Pa·s or N·s/m2 or kg/m·s),
• is the kinematic viscosity of the fluid (m2/s).

Cauchy Number
The Cauchy number (Ca) is a dimensionless number in continuum mechanics used in the
study of compressible flows. When the compressibility is important the elastic forces must
be considered along with inertial forces for dynamic similarity. Thus, the Cauchy Number
is defined as the ratio between inertial and the compressibility force (elastic force).

• is the density of fluid, (kg/m3),

• is the local flow velocity, (m/s),
• is the bulk modulus of elasticity, , (Pa).

Strouhal Number
The Strouhal number (St) is a dimensionless number describing oscillating flow
mechanisms. The parameter is named after Vincenc Strouhal, a Czech physicist who
experimented in 1878 with wires experiencing vortex shedding and singing in the wind.

• is the frequency of vortex shedding (1/s = Hz),

• is the characteristic length (m),
• is the flow velocity (m/s).
Froude Number
The Froude number (Fr) is a dimensionless number defined as the ratio of the inertial
forces to the external field (usually the gravity).

• is a characteristic flow velocity (m/s),

• is a characteristic external field (m/s2),
• is a characteristic length (m).

Scruton Number
The Scruton number (Sc) is one of the important parameters for vortex-induced vibration
of structures, usually caused by rain or wind.

• is the logarithmic damping decrement (non-dim),

• is the effective mass per unit length (kg/m),
• is the density of the air, or liquid (kg/m3),
• is the characteristic width of the structure (m).

Keulegan-Carpenter Number
The Keulegan–Carpenter number (Kc), also called the period number, is a dimensionless
quantity describing the relative importance of the drag forces over inertia forces for bluff
objects in an oscillatory fluid flow. Or similarly, for objects that oscillate in a fluid at rest.
For small Kc number inertia dominates, while for large numbers the turbulence drag
forces are important.

• is the velocity amplitude of the flow or object oscillation (m/s),

• is the period of the oscillation (s),
• is a characteristic length scale of the object (m).

Weber Number
The Weber number (We) is a measure of the relative importance of the fluid's inertia
compared to its surface tension. The quantity is useful in analyzing thin film flows and the
formation of droplets and bubbles.

• is the density of the fluid (kg/m3),

• is its velocity (m/s),
• is its characteristic length, typically the droplet diameter (m),
• is the surface tension (N/m).