Von Kármán constant

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In fluid dynamics, the von Kármán constant (or Kármán's constant), named for Theodore von Kármán, is a dimensionless constant involved in the logarithmic law describing the distribution of the longitudinal velocity in the wall-normal direction of a turbulent fluid flow near a boundary with a no-slip condition. The equation for such boundary layer flow profiles is:

Fluid dynamics subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that deals with fluid flow—the natural science of fluids (liquids and gases) in motion

In physics 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 and hydrodynamics. 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 and modelling fission weapon detonation,

Theodore von Kármán Hungarian-American mathematician, aerospace engineer and physicist

Theodore von Kármán was a Hungarian-American mathematician, aerospace engineer, and physicist who was active primarily in the fields of aeronautics and astronautics. He is responsible for many key advances in aerodynamics, notably his work on supersonic and hypersonic airflow characterization. He is regarded as the outstanding aerodynamic theoretician of the twentieth century.

Logarithm A function that maps products to sums

In mathematics, the logarithm is the inverse function to exponentiation (it is an example of a concave function). That means the logarithm of a given number x is the exponent to which another fixed number, the base b, must be raised, to produce that number x. In the simplest case, the logarithm counts repeated multiplication of the same factor; e.g., since 1000 = 10 × 10 × 10 = 103, the "logarithm to base 10" of 1000 is 3. The logarithm of x to baseb is denoted as logb (x) (or, without parentheses, as logbx, or even without explicit base as log x, when no confusion is possible). More generally, exponentiation allows any positive real number to be raised to any real power, always producing a positive result, so the logarithm for any two positive real numbers b and x where b is not equal to 1, is always a unique real number y. More explicitly, the defining relation between exponentiation and logarithm is:

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where u is the mean flow velocity at height z above the boundary. The roughness height (also known as roughness length) z0 is where appears to go to zero. Further κ is the von Kármán constant being typically 0.41, and is the friction velocity which depends on the shear stress τw at the boundary of the flow:

In continuum mechanics the macroscopic velocity, also flow velocity in fluid dynamics or drift velocity in electromagnetism, is a vector field used to mathematically describe the motion of a continuum. The length of the flow velocity vector is the flow speed and is a scalar. It is also called velocity field; when evaluated along a line, it is called a velocity profile.

Roughness length is a parameter of some vertical wind profile equations that model the horizontal mean wind speed near the ground; in the log wind profile, it is equivalent to the height at which the wind speed theoretically becomes zero. In reality the wind at this height no longer follows a mathematical logarithm. It is so named because it is typically related to the height of terrain roughness elements. Whilst it is not a physical length, it can be considered as a length-scale representation of the roughness of the surface.

Shear stress component of stress coplanar with a material cross section

A shear stress, often denoted by τ, is the component of stress coplanar with a material cross section. Shear stress arises from the force vector component parallel to the cross section of the material. Normal stress, on the other hand, arises from the force vector component perpendicular to the material cross section on which it acts.

with ρ the fluid density.

The Kármán constant is often used in turbulence modeling, for instance in boundary-layer meteorology to calculate fluxes of momentum, heat and moisture from the atmosphere to the land surface. It is considered to be a universal (κ ≈ 0.40).

Turbulence modeling is the construction and use of a mathematical model to predict the effects of turbulence. Turbulent flows are commonplace in most real life scenarios, including the flow of blood through the cardiovascular system, the airflow over an aircraft wing, the re-entry of space vehicles, besides others. In spite of decades of research, there is no analytical theory to predict the evolution of these turbulent flows. The equations governing turbulent flows can only be solved directly for simple cases of flow. For most real life turbulent flows, CFD simulations use turbulent models to predict the evolution of turbulence. These turbulence models are simplified constitutive equations that predict the statistical evolution of turbulent flows.

Meteorology Interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere focusing on weather forecasting

Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences which includes atmospheric chemistry and atmospheric physics, with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the 18th century. The 19th century saw modest progress in the field after weather observation networks were formed across broad regions. Prior attempts at prediction of weather depended on historical data. It was not until after the elucidation of the laws of physics and more particularly, the development of the computer, allowing for the automated solution of a great many equations that model the weather, in the latter half of the 20th century that significant breakthroughs in weather forecasting were achieved. An important domain of weather forecasting is marine weather forecasting as it relates to maritime and coastal safety, in which weather effects also include atmospheric interactions with large bodies of water.

Flux measure of the flow of something through a surface, in some cases per surface area

Flux describes any effect that appears to pass or travel through a surface or substance. A flux is either a concept based in physics or used with applied mathematics. Both concepts have mathematical rigor, enabling comparison of the underlying mathematics when the terminology is unclear. For transport phenomena, flux is a vector quantity, describing the magnitude and direction of the flow of a substance or property. In electromagnetism, flux is a scalar quantity, defined as the surface integral of the component of a vector field perpendicular to the surface at each point.

Gaudio, Miglio and Dey argued that the Kármán constant is however nonuniversal in flows over mobile sediment beds.

Subhasish Dey Indian academic

Subhasish Dey is a hydraulician and educator. He is known for his research on the hydrodynamics and acclaimed for his contributions in developing theories and solution methodologies of various problems on hydrodynamics, turbulence, boundary layer, sediment transport and open channel flow. He is currently a Professor of the Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, where he served as the Head of the Department during 2013-15 and held the position of Brahmaputra Chair Professor during 2009-14 and 2015. He also holds an Adjunct Professor position in the Physics and Applied Mathematics Unit at Indian Statistical Institute Kolkata. Besides he has been named a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Tsinghua University in Beijing, China.

In recent years the von Kármán constant has been subject to periodic scrutiny. Reviews (Foken, 2006; Hogstrom, 1988; Hogstrom, 1996) report values of κ between 0.35 and 0.42. The overall conclusion of over 18 studies is that κ is constant, close to 0.40.

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Law of the wall

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Boundary layer thickness

This page describes some parameters used to characterize the properties of a boundary layer formed by fluid flow along a wall. The boundary layer concept was first described by Ludwig Prandtl. Consider a stationary body with a fluid flowing around it, like the semi-infinite flat plate with air flowing over the top of the plate. At the solid walls of the body the fluid satisfies a no-slip boundary condition and has zero velocity, but as you move away from the wall, the velocity of the flow asymptotically approaches the free stream mean velocity. Therefore, it is impossible to define a sharp point at which the boundary layer becomes the free stream, yet this layer has a well-defined characteristic thickness. The parameters below provide a useful definition of this characteristic, measurable thickness. Also included in this boundary layer description are some parameters useful in describing the shape of the boundary layer.

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Reynolds number Dimensionless quantity that is used to help predict fluid flow patterns

The Reynolds number is an important dimensionless quantity in fluid mechanics used to help predict flow patterns in different fluid flow situations. At low Reynolds numbers, flows tend to be dominated by laminar (sheet-like) flow, while at high Reynolds numbers turbulence results from differences in the fluid's speed and direction, which may sometimes intersect or even move counter to the overall direction of the flow. These eddy currents begin to churn the flow, using up energy in the process, which for liquids increases the chances of cavitation. The Reynolds number has wide applications, ranging from liquid flow in a pipe to the passage of air over an aircraft wing. It is used to predict the transition from laminar to turbulent flow, and is used in the scaling of similar but different-sized flow situations, such as between an aircraft model in a wind tunnel and the full size version. The predictions of the onset of turbulence and the ability to calculate scaling effects can be used to help predict fluid behaviour on a larger scale, such as in local or global air or water movement and thereby the associated meteorological and climatological effects.

The Reynolds Equation is a partial differential equation governing the pressure distribution of thin viscous fluid films in Lubrication theory. It should not be confused with Osborne Reynolds' other namesakes, Reynolds number and Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations. It was first derived by Osborne Reynolds in 1886. The classical Reynolds Equation can be used to describe the pressure distribution in nearly any type of fluid film bearing; a bearing type in which the bounding bodies are fully separated by a thin layer of liquid or gas.

Monin–Obukhov (M–O) similarity theory describes non-dimensionalized mean flow and mean temperature in the surface layer under non-neutral conditions as a function of the dimensionless height parameter, named after Russian scientists A. S. Monin and A. M. Obukhov. Similarity theory is an empirical method which describes universal relationships between non-dimensionalized variables of fluids based on the Buckingham Pi theorem. Similarity theory is extensively used in boundary layer meteorology, since relations in turbulent processes are not always resolvable from first principles.

Skin friction drag is a component of profile drag, which is resistant force exerted on an object moving in a fluid. Skin friction drag is caused by the viscosity of fluids and is developed from laminar drag to turbulent drag as a fluid moves on the surface of an object. Skin friction drag is generally expressed in term of the Reynolds number, which is the ratio between inertial force and viscous force.

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