NPTEL Course Developer for Fluid Mechanics Dr.

Niranjan Sahoo
IIT-Guwahati

DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS AND HYDRAULIC SIMILITUDE

Lecture-3

Dimensional Numbers in Fluid Mechanics

Forces encountered in flowing fluids include those due to inertia, viscosity, pressure,
gravity, surface tension and compressibility. These forces can be written as
dV dV
Inertia force = m.a = r .(volume). = r .(volume).V �r .V 2 .L2
dt ds
du
Viscous force = t . A = m. A. �m.V .L
dy

Pressure force = ( Dp ) . A �( Dp ) .L2

Gravity force = m.g �g.r .L3

Surface tension force = s .L

Compressibility force = Ev . A �Ev .L2 ( Bulk modulus = Ev )

The ratio of any two forces will be dimensionless. Inertia forces are very important in
fluid mechanics problems. So, the ratio of the inertia force to each of the other forces
listed above leads to fundamental dimensionless groups. These are,

1. Reynolds number ( Re ) : It is defined as the ratio of inertia force to viscous force.

Mathematically,
rVL VL
Re = = (1)
m n
where V is the velocity of the flow, L is the characteristics length, r , m and n are the

density, dynamic viscosity and is the fluid respectively. If Re is very small, there is an
indication that the viscous forces are dominant compared to inertia forces. Such types of

flows are commonly referred as “creeping/viscous flows”. Conversely, for large Re ,

viscous forces are small compared to inertial effects and flow problems are characterized
as inviscid analysis. This number is also used to study the transition between the laminar
and turbulent flow regimes.

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NPTEL Course Developer for Fluid Mechanics Dr. Niranjan Sahoo
IIT-Guwahati

2. Euler number ( Eu ) : In most of the aerodynamic model testing, the pressure data are
usually expressed mathematically as,

Dp
Eu =
1 (2)
rV 2
2
where Dp is the difference in local pressure and free stream pressure, V is the velocity
of the flow, r is the density of the fluid. The denominator in Eq. (2) is called “dynamic

pressure”. So, Eu is the ratio of pressure force to viscous force and it is also called as the

pressure coefficient C p . In the study of cavitations phenomena, similar expressions are

used where Dp is the difference in liquid stream pressure and liquid-vapour pressure. The
dimensional parameter is called “cavitation number”.
3. Froude number ( Fr ) : It is interpreted as the ratio of inertia force to gravity force.
Mathematically, it is written as,
V
Fr = (3)
g .L
where V is the velocity of the flow, L is the characteristics length descriptive of the flow
field and g is the acceleration due to gravity. This number is very much significant for
flows with free surface effects such as in case of open-channel flow. In such types of

flows, the characteristics length is the depth of water. For Fr less than unity indicates
sub-critical flow and values greater than unity indicate super-critical flow. It is also used
to study the flow of water around ships with resulting wave motion.
4. Weber number ( We ) : The ratio of the inertia force to surface tension force is called
Weber number. Mathematically,
rV 2 L
We = (4)
s
where V is the velocity of the flow, L is the characteristics length descriptive of the flow
field, r is the density of the fluid and s is the surface tension force. This number is
taken as in index of droplet formation and flow of thin film liquids in which there is an

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NPTEL Course Developer for Fluid Mechanics Dr. Niranjan Sahoo
IIT-Guwahati

interface between two fluids. For We ? 1 , inertia force is dominant compared to surface
tension force (e.g. flow of water in a river).
5. Mach number ( M a ) : It is the key parameter that characterizes the compressibility
effects in a fluid flow and is defined as the ratio of inertia force to compressibility force.
Mathematically,
V V V
Ma = = =
c dp Ev (5)
dr r
where V is the velocity of the flow, c is the local sonic speed, r is the density of the

fluid and Ev is the bulk modulus. Sometimes the square of the Mach number is called

“Cauchy number” ( Ca ) i.e.

rV 2
Ca = M a2 = (6)
Ev
Both the numbers are predominantly used in problems in which fluid compressibility is

important. When the M a is relatively small (say, less than 0.3), the inertial forces induced
by fluid motion are sufficiently large to cause a significant change in fluid density. So, the
compressibility of the fluid can be neglected. However, this number is most commonly
used parameter in compressible fluid flow problems, particularly in the field of gas
dynamics and aerodynamics.
6. Strouhal number ( St ) : It is a dimensionless parameter that is likely to important in
unsteady, oscillating flow problems in which the frequency of oscillation is w and is
defined as,
wL
St = (7)
V
where V is the velocity of the flow and L is the characteristics length descriptive of the
flow field. This number is the measure of the ratio of the inertial forces due to
unsteadiness of the flow (local acceleration) to inertia forces due to changes in velocity
from point to point in the flow field (convective acceleration). This type of unsteady flow
develops when a fluid flows past a solid body placed in the moving stream.

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NPTEL Course Developer for Fluid Mechanics Dr. Niranjan Sahoo
IIT-Guwahati

In addition, there are few other dimensionless numbers that are of importance in
fluid mechanics. They are listed below.

Parameter Mathematical expression Qualitative definition Importance

m .c p Dissipation
Prandtl number Pr = Heat convection
k Conduction
V2 Kinetic energy
Eckert number Ec = Dissipation
c p .T0 Enthalpy

cp Enthalpy
Specific heat ratio g= Compressible
cv Internal energy

flow
e Wall roughness
Roughness ratio Turbulent,
L Body length
Rough walls
b . ( DT ) .g .L3 .r 2 Buoyancy
Grashof number Gr = Natural
m2 Viscosity

convection
Tw Wall temperature
Temperature ratio Heat transfer
T0 Stream temperature
p - p�
Cp = Static pressure
Pressure coefficient 1 Hydrodynamics,
r .V 2 Dynamic pressure
2
Aerodynamics
L
CL = Lift force
Lift coefficient 1 Hydrodynamics,
A.r .V 2 Dynamic force
2
Aero dynamics
D
CD = Drag force
Drag coefficient 1 Hydrodynamics,
A.r .V 2 Dynamic force
2
Aero dynamics

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NPTEL Course Developer for Fluid Mechanics Dr. Niranjan Sahoo
IIT-Guwahati

Modeling and Similitude

 A “model” is a representation of a physical system used to predict the behavior of
the system in some desired respect. The physical system for which the predictions
are to be made is called “prototype”.
 Usually, a model is smaller than the prototype so as to conduct laboratory studies
and it is less expensive to construct and operate. However, in certain situations,
models are larger than the prototype e.g. study of the motion of blood cells whose
sizes are of the order of micrometers.
 “Similitude” in a general sense is the indication of a known relationship between
a model and prototype i.e. model tests must yield data that can be scaled to obtain
the similar parameters for the prototype.

Theory of models
A given problem can be described in terms of a set of pi terms by using the principles of
dimensional analysis as,
P1 = f ( P 2 , P 3 ,..........P n ) (8)
This equation applies to any system that is governed by same variables. So, if the
behavior of a particular prototype is described by Eq. (8), a similar relationship can be
written for a model of this type i.e.
P1m = f ( P 2 m , P 3m ,..........P nm ) (9)
The form of the function remains the same as long as the same phenomenon is involved
in both prototype and the model. Therefore, if the model is designed and operated under
following conditions,
P 2m = P 2
P 3m = P 3
. (10)
.
P nm = P n

then, it follows that

P1 = P1m (11)

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NPTEL Course Developer for Fluid Mechanics Dr. Niranjan Sahoo
IIT-Guwahati

Eq. (11) is the desired “prediction equation” and indicates that the measured value of
P1m obtained with the model will be equal to the corresponding P1 for the prototype as

long as the other pi terms are equal. These are called “model design conditions /
similarity requirements / modeling laws”.

Flow similarity
In order to achieve similarity between model and prototype behavior, all the
corresponding pi terms must be equated between model and prototype. So, following
conditions must be met to ensure the similarity of the model and the prototype flows.
1. Geometric similarity: A model and prototype are geometric similar if and only if all
body dimensions in all three coordinates have the same linear-scale ratio. It requires that
the model and the prototype be of the same shape and that all the linear dimensions of the
model be related to corresponding dimensions of the prototype by a constant scale factor.
Usually, one or more of these pi terms will involve ratios of important lengths, which are
purely geometrical in nature. The geometric scaling may also extend to the finest features
of the system such as surface roughness or small protuberance that may influence the
flow fields between model and prototype.
2. Kinematic similarity: The motions of two systems are kinematically similar if
homogeneous particles lie at homogeneous points at homogeneous times. In a specific
sense, the velocities at corresponding points are in the same direction and are related in
magnitude by a constant scale factor. This also requires that streamline patterns must be
related by a constant scale factor. The flows that are kinematically similar must be
geometric similar because boundaries form the bounding streamlines. The factors like
compressibility or cavitations must be taken care to maintain the kinematic similarity.
3. Dynamic similarity: When two flows have force distributions such that identical types
of forces are parallel and are related in magnitude by a constant scale factor at all
corresponding points, then the flows are dynamic similar. For a model and prototype, the
dynamic similarity exists, when both of them have same length-scale ratio, time-scale
ratio and force-scale (or mass-scale ratio).
 For compressible flows, the model and prototype Reynolds number, Mach
number and specific heat ratio are correspondingly equal.

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NPTEL Course Developer for Fluid Mechanics Dr. Niranjan Sahoo
IIT-Guwahati

 For incompressible flows,

With no free surface: model and prototype Reynolds number are equal.
With free surface: Reynolds number, Froude number, Weber number and
Cavitation numbers for model and prototype must match.
In order to have complete similarity between the model and prototype, all the
similarity flow conditions must be maintained. This will automatically follow if all the
important variables are included in the dimensional analysis and if all the similarity
requirements based on the resulting pi terms are satisfied.

Model scales
In a given problem, if there are two length variables l1 and l2 , the resulting requirement
based on the pi terms obtained from these variables is,
l1m l2 m
= (12)
l1 l2
This ratio is defined as the “length scale”. For true models, there will be only one length
scale and all lengths are fixed in accordance with this scale. There are other ‘model

�V � �r �
scales’ such as velocity scale � m = lv �, density scale � m = lr �, viscosity scale
�V � �r �

�mm �
� = lm �etc. Each of theses scales is defined for a given problem.
�m �

Distorted models
In order to achieve the complete dynamic similarity between geometrically similar flows,
it is necessary to duplicate the independent dimensionless groups so that dependent
parameters can also be duplicated (e.g. duplication of Reynolds number between a model
and prototype is ensured for dynamically similar flows).
In many model studies, dynamic similarity requires the duplication of several
dimensionless groups and it leads to incomplete similarity between model and the
prototype. If one or more of the similarity requirements are not met, e.g. in Eq. 10, if

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NPTEL Course Developer for Fluid Mechanics Dr. Niranjan Sahoo
IIT-Guwahati

P 2 m �P 2 , then it follows that Eq. 11 will not be satisfied i.e. P1 �P1m . Models for

which one or more of the similar requirements are not satisfied, are called “distorted
models”.
Example: In the study of open-channel or free surface flows, both Reynolds number

�rVl � �V �
� �and Froude number �
� gl �
�are involved. Then,
�m � � �
Froude number similarity requires,
Vm V
= (13)
g m lm gl

If the model and prototype are operated in the same gravitational field, then the velocity
scale becomes,
Vm l
= m = ll (14)
V l
Reynolds number similarity requires,
r m .Vm .lm r .V .l
= (15)
mm m
and the velocity scale is,
Vm mm r l
= . . (16)
V m r m lm
Since, the velocity scale must be equal to the square root of the length scale, it follows
that

3
n m ( mm r m ) �lm �
2 3
= = � � = ( ll ) 2 (17)
n ( m r ) �l �
Eq. (17) requires that both model and prototype to have different kinematics viscosity
scale, if at all both the requirements i.e. Eq. (13) and (15) are to be satisfied. But
practically, it is almost impossible to find a suitable model fluid for small length scale. In
such cases, the systems are designed on the basis of Froude number with different
Reynolds number for the model and prototype where Eq. (17) need not be satisfied. Such

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NPTEL Course Developer for Fluid Mechanics Dr. Niranjan Sahoo
IIT-Guwahati

analysis will result a “distorted model”. Hence, there are no general rules for handling
distorted models and essentially each problem must be considered on its own merits.
References
1. Munson B.R., Young D.F. and Okiishi T.H., “Fundamentals of Fluid Mechanics”,
Fourth Edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2002
2. Fox R.W. and McDonald A.T., “Introduction to Fluid Mechanics”, Fifth Edition,
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2001
3. Shames I.H., “Mechanics of Fluids”, Third Edition, McGraw-Hill Inc., 1992
4. Garde R.J., “Fluid Mechanics through Problems”, Second Edition, New Age
International (P) Limited, 1997.
5. Frank M. White, “Fluid Mechanics”, Third Edition, McGraw-Hill Inc., 1994
6.