Fluid Dynamics Equations 171
section, etc.). We can write the conservation of mass flow
SV
in differential form
in this stream tube (
0
VSd
); taking account of [4.38], we obtain Hugoniot’s
differential relation:
01
2
2
¸
¸
¹
·
¨
¨
©
§
S
dS
V
dV
c
V
VS
VSd
U
U
[4.39]
Equation [4.39] cannot be solved with respect to the derivative
dV/dS
in a
velocity interval in which we have the velocity
V = c
(critical conditions), this value
corresponding to a singular point of this differential equation.
On the other hand, we can always solve equation [4.39] with respect to
dS/dV
,
showing that the cross-section S of the tube is a decreasing function of the velocity
in subsonic flow (V<c), but increasing for supersonic flows (V>c).
The minimum cross-section corresponds to:
– either a velocity
maximum in a subsonic flow
, as in the incompressible case;
– or a
velocity equal to the local sound speed
.
As the mass flow rate
SV
is constant, the area
S
of the cross-section varies
inversely with the product
V
studied earlier (Figure 4.3). The maximum mass
flux density
V
occurs in the throat of the nozzle, where the cross-section is
smallest. However, this quantity
V
can only take values smaller than the critical
value
U
*
c
*
. So, the mass flow rate cannot exceed the critical value
U
*
S
c
c
*
calculated
in the throat cross-section. The mass flow rate may be obviously less than this
maximum value, the velocity in cross-section
S
c
then being smaller than the sound
velocity.
This configuration is characteristic of nozzles (Figure 4.4b). Note that for a given
value of the cross-section S or the quantity
SV,
there are two corresponding
velocities, which explains the difficulty encountered when we try to solve equation
[4.39] for the velocity
V
. We will return to look at the consequences of this situation
in section 5.5.4.
4.3.3. The vorticity equation
We have seen that for a mechanical system, we can consider a dynamic moment
(section 3.2.1) taken about the inertia center of the system in a reference frame
which is parallel to a Galilean reference frame. The instantaneous rotational