Conservation form or Eulerian form refers to an arrangement of an equation or system of equations, usually representing a hyperbolic system, that emphasizes that a property represented is conserved, i.e. a type of continuity equation. The term is usually used in the context of continuum mechanics.
Equations in conservation form take the form
for any conserved quantity , with a suitable function . An equation of this form can be transformed into an integral equation
using the divergence theorem. The integral equation states that the change rate of the integral of the quantity over an arbitrary control volume is given by the flux through the boundary of the control volume, with being the surface normal through the boundary. is neither produced nor consumed inside of and is hence conserved. A typical choice for is , with velocity , meaning that the quantity flows with a given velocity field.
The integral form of such equations is usually the physically more natural formulation, and the differential equation arises from differentiation. Since the integral equation can also have non-differentiable solutions, the equality of both formulations can break down in some cases, leading to weak solutions and severe numerical difficulties in simulations of such equations.
An example of a set of equations written in conservation form are the Euler equations of fluid flow:
Each of these represents the conservation of mass, momentum and energy, respectively.
Continuum mechanics is a branch of mechanics that deals with the mechanical behavior of materials modeled as a continuous mass rather than as discrete particles. The French mathematician Augustin-Louis Cauchy was the first to formulate such models in the 19th century.
In physics, a conservation law states that a particular measurable property of an isolated physical system does not change as the system evolves over time. Exact conservation laws include conservation of mass and energy, conservation of linear momentum, conservation of angular momentum, and conservation of electric charge. There are also many approximate conservation laws, which apply to such quantities as mass, parity, lepton number, baryon number, strangeness, hypercharge, etc. These quantities are conserved in certain classes of physics processes, but not in all.
In physics, the Navier–Stokes equations are certain partial differential equations which describe the motion of viscous fluid substances, named after French engineer and physicist Claude-Louis Navier and Anglo-Irish physicist and mathematician George Gabriel Stokes. They were developed over several decades of progressively building the theories, from 1822 (Navier) to 1842–1850 (Stokes).
The vorticity equation of fluid dynamics describes evolution of the vorticity ω of a particle of a fluid as it moves with its flow, that is, the local rotation of the fluid . The equation is:
In mathematics, the Laplace operator or Laplacian is a differential operator given by the divergence of the gradient of a scalar function on Euclidean space. It is usually denoted by the symbols , , or . In a Cartesian coordinate system, the Laplacian is given by the sum of second partial derivatives of the function with respect to each independent variable. In other coordinate systems, such as cylindrical and spherical coordinates, the Laplacian also has a useful form. Informally, the Laplacian Δf (p) of a function f at a point p measures by how much the average value of f over small spheres or balls centered at p deviates from f (p).
In the calculus of variations, a field of mathematical analysis, the functional derivative relates a change in a functional to a change in a function on which the functional depends.
In fluid dynamics, the Euler equations are a set of quasilinear hyperbolic equations governing adiabatic and inviscid flow. They are named after Leonhard Euler. The equations represent Cauchy equations of conservation of mass (continuity), and balance of momentum and energy, and can be seen as particular Navier–Stokes equations with zero viscosity and zero thermal conductivity. In fact, Euler equations can be obtained by linearization of some more precise continuity equations like Navier–Stokes equations in a local equilibrium state given by a Maxwellian. The Euler equations can be applied to incompressible and to compressible flow – assuming the flow velocity is a solenoidal field, or using another appropriate energy equation respectively. Historically, only the incompressible equations have been derived by Euler. However, fluid dynamics literature often refers to the full set – including the energy equation – of the more general compressible equations together as "the Euler equations".
A continuity equation or transport equation is an equation that describes the transport of some quantity. It is particularly simple and powerful when applied to a conserved quantity, but it can be generalized to apply to any extensive quantity. Since mass, energy, momentum, electric charge and other natural quantities are conserved under their respective appropriate conditions, a variety of physical phenomena may be described using continuity equations.
In thermodynamics, the Onsager reciprocal relations express the equality of certain ratios between flows and forces in thermodynamic systems out of equilibrium, but where a notion of local equilibrium exists.
In mathematics, the directional derivative of a multivariable differentiable (scalar) function along a given vector v at a given point x intuitively represents the instantaneous rate of change of the function, moving through x with a velocity specified by v.
In differential geometry, the four-gradient is the four-vector analogue of the gradient from vector calculus.
In continuum mechanics, the finite strain theory—also called large strain theory, or large deformation theory—deals with deformations in which strains and/or rotations are large enough to invalidate assumptions inherent in infinitesimal strain theory. In this case, the undeformed and deformed configurations of the continuum are significantly different, requiring a clear distinction between them. This is commonly the case with elastomers, plastically-deforming materials and other fluids and biological soft tissue.
Oblate spheroidal coordinates are a three-dimensional orthogonal coordinate system that results from rotating the two-dimensional elliptic coordinate system about the non-focal axis of the ellipse, i.e., the symmetry axis that separates the foci. Thus, the two foci are transformed into a ring of radius in the x-y plane. Oblate spheroidal coordinates can also be considered as a limiting case of ellipsoidal coordinates in which the two largest semi-axes are equal in length.
In fluid mechanics, potential vorticity (PV) is a quantity which is proportional to the dot product of vorticity and stratification. This quantity, following a parcel of air or water, can only be changed by diabatic or frictional processes. It is a useful concept for understanding the generation of vorticity in cyclogenesis, especially along the polar front, and in analyzing flow in the ocean.
The intent of this article is to highlight the important points of the derivation of the Navier–Stokes equations as well as its application and formulation for different families of fluids.
The Cauchy momentum equation is a vector partial differential equation put forth by Cauchy that describes the non-relativistic momentum transport in any continuum.
The Clausius–Duhem inequality is a way of expressing the second law of thermodynamics that is used in continuum mechanics. This inequality is particularly useful in determining whether the constitutive relation of a material is thermodynamically allowable.
In continuum mechanics, a compatible deformation tensor field in a body is that unique tensor field that is obtained when the body is subjected to a continuous, single-valued, displacement field. Compatibility is the study of the conditions under which such a displacement field can be guaranteed. Compatibility conditions are particular cases of integrability conditions and were first derived for linear elasticity by Barré de Saint-Venant in 1864 and proved rigorously by Beltrami in 1886.
Lagrangian field theory is a formalism in classical field theory. It is the field-theoretic analogue of Lagrangian mechanics. Lagrangian mechanics is used to analyze the motion of a system of discrete particles each with a finite number of degrees of freedom. Lagrangian field theory applies to continua and fields, which have an infinite number of degrees of freedom.
The Shvab–Zeldovich formulation is an approach to remove the chemical-source terms from the conservation equations for energy and chemical species by linear combinations of independent variables, when the conservation equations are expressed in a common form. Expressing conservation equations in common form often limits the range of applicability of the formulation. The method was first introduced by V. A. Shvab in 1948 and by Yakov Zeldovich in 1949.