Principles of Conservation

Governing equations of fluid flow and heat transfer

• The governing equations of fluid flow represent

mathematical statements of the conservation laws of
physics:
– The mass of a fluid is conserved
– The rate of change of momentum equals the sum
of the forces on a fluid particle (Newton’s second
law)
– The rate of change of energy is equal to the sum of
the rate of heat addition to and the rate of work
done on a fluid particle (first law of thermodynamics)
• The fluid will be regarded as a continuum.

• For the analysis of fluid flows at macroscopic length

scales (say 1 μm and larger) the molecular structure of
matter and molecular motions may be ignored.

• Describe the behaviour of the fluid in terms of

macroscopic properties, such as velocity, pressure,
density and temperature, and their space and time
derivatives.

• A fluid particle or point in a fluid is then the smallest

possible element of fluid whose macroscopic properties
are not influenced by individual molecules.
• Fluid element for conservation laws

N-North,
S-South,
E-East,
W-West,
T-Top,
B-Bottom.
• The element under consideration is so small that fluid
properties at the faces can be expressed accurately
enough using the first two terms of a Taylor series
expansion.

• So, for example, the pressure at the W and E faces,

1
which are both at a distance of δx from the element
2
center, can be expressed as
 Mass conservation in three dimensions
• The first step in the derivation of the mass
conservation equation is to write down a mass
balance for the fluid element:

LHS RHS
LHS:

(1)
 RHS:
• Net rate of flow of mass into the element
• the net rate of flow of mass into the element across its
boundaries is given by
 (2)

(3)

The above equation is the unsteady, three-dimensional mass

conservation or continuity equation at a point in a
compressible fluid.
• For an incompressible fluid (i.e. a liquid) the density ρ is
constant and equation becomes

(4)

(5)
Rates of change following a fluid particle and for a fluid element

• The momentum and energy conservation laws make

statements regarding changes of properties of a fluid
particle, which is termed as the Lagrangian approach.

• Each property of such a particle is a function of the

position (x, y, z) of the particle and time t.
• Let the value of a property per unit mass be denoted
by φ.
• The total or substantive derivative of φ with respect
to time following a fluid particle, written as Dφ/Dt, is

(6)

• A fluid particle follows the flow, so dx/dt = u, dy/dt =

v and dz/dt = w. Hence the substantive derivative of φ
is given by

(7)
• Dφ/Dt defines rate of change of property φ per unit
mass.
• It is possible to develop numerical methods for fluid
flow calculations based on the Lagrangian approach,
i.e. by tracking the motion and computing the rates of
change of conserved properties φ for collections of
fluid particles.
• However, it is far more common to develop equations
for collections of fluid elements making up a region
fixed in space, for example a region defined by a
duct, a pump, a furnace or similar piece of
engineering equipment. This is termed the Eulerian
approach.
• As in the case of the mass conservation equation, we
are interested in developing equations for rates of
change per unit volume.

• The rate of change of property φ per unit volume for

a fluid particle is given by the product of Dφ/Dt and
density ρ, hence

(8)
• The mass conservation equation contains the mass per
unit volume (i.e. the density ρ) as the conserved
quantity.

• The sum of the rate of change of density in time and

the convective term in the mass conservation equation
(3) for a fluid element is
• The generalisation of these terms for an arbitrary
conserved property is
(9)

• Formula (9) expresses the rate of change in time of φ

per unit volume plus the net flow of φ out of the fluid
element per unit volume.
• It is now rewritten to illustrate its relationship with
the substantive derivative of φ:

(10)

• The term φ [(∂ρ/∂t) + div(ρu)] is equal to zero by

virtue of mass conservation (3). In words,
relationship (10) states
• To construct the three components of the momentum
equation and the energy equation the relevant entries
for φ and their rates of change per unit volume as
defined in (8) and (10) are given below:
MOMENTUM EQUATION IN THREE DIMENSIONS

• Newton’s second law states that the rate of change of

momentum of a fluid particle equals the sum of the
forces on the particle:

• The rates of increase of x-, y- and z-momentum per

unit volume of a fluid particle are given by

(11)
Two types of forces on fluid particles:
• surface forces
– pressure forces
– viscous forces (Normal, Tangential)
• body forces
– gravity force
– centrifugal force
– Electromagnetic force
• It is common practice to highlight the
contributions due to the surface forces as separate
terms in the momentum equation and to include
the effects of body forces as source (S) terms.
Stress components on three faces of fluid element
• The pressure, a normal stress, is denoted by p.
Viscous stresses are denoted by τ.

• The usual suffix notation τij is applied to indicate the

direction of the viscous stresses.

• The suffices i and j in τij indicate that the stress

component acts in the j-direction on a surface normal
to the i-direction.
Stress components in the x-direction
 MOMEMENTUM EQUATIONS
• x-component of the momentum equation

• y-component of the momentum equation

(12)

• z-component of the momentum equation

• The effects of surface stresses are accounted for
explicitly; the source terms SMx, SMy and SMz in above
equations include contributions due to body forces
only.

• For example, the body force due to gravity would be

modelled by SMx = 0, SMy = 0 and SMz = −ρg.
 Energy equation in three dimensions
• The energy equation is derived from the first law of
thermodynamics, which states that the rate of change
of energy of a fluid particle is equal to the rate of heat
addition to the fluid particle plus the rate of work
done on the particle:
• As before, we will be deriving an equation for the
rate of increase of energy of a fluid particle per unit
volume, which is given by

(13)

Work done by surface forces:

• The rate of work done on the fluid particle in the

element by a surface force is equal to the product of
the force and velocity component in the direction of
the force.
• The work done by these forces is given by (x-direction)
• The net rate of work done by these surface forces
acting in the x-direction is given by

Similarly
• y-direction
(14)

z-direction
• The total rate of work done per unit volume on the
fluid particle by all the surface forces is given by the
sum of all above equations divided by the volume
δxδyδz.

• The terms containing pressure can be collected

together and written more compactly in vector form

(15)
• This yields the following total rate of work done on
the fluid particle by surface stresses:

(16)
Energy flux due to heat conduction:
• The heat flux vector q has three components: qx, qy
and qz
• The net rate of heat transfer to the fluid particle due
to heat flow in the x-direction is given by the
difference between the rate of heat input across face
W and the rate of heat loss across face E:

• Similarly, the net rates of heat transfer to the fluid due

to heat flows in the y- and z-direction are
• The total rate of heat added to the fluid particle per
unit volume due to heat flow across its boundaries is
the sum of above equations divided by the volume
δxδyδz:
(17)

• Fourier’s law of heat conduction relates the heat flux

to the local temperature gradient. So

• This can be written in vector form as follows:

(18)
• Final form of the rate of heat addition to the fluid
particle due to heat conduction across element
boundaries:
(19)

Energy equation
• Thus far we have not defined the specific energy E of
a fluid.

• The energy of a fluid is defined as the sum of internal

𝟏
(thermal) energy i, kinetic energy (u2 + v2 + w2) and
𝟐
gravitational potential energy.
• This definition takes the view that the fluid element is
storing gravitational potential energy.

• It is also possible to regard the gravitational force as a

body force, which does work on the fluid element as
it moves through the gravity field.

• Here we will include the effects of potential energy

changes as a source term. As before, we define a
source of energy SE per unit volume per unit time.
• Conservation of energy of the fluid particle is ensured
by :

• The rate of change of energy of the fluid particle =

Net rate of work done on the fluid particle +
Net rate of heat addition to the fluid +
Rate of increase of energy due to sources
• The energy equation is

(20)

𝟏
where E = i + (u2 + v2 + w2)
𝟐
• Although above energy equation is a perfectly
adequate energy equation it is common practice to
extract the changes of the (mechanical) kinetic energy
to obtain an equation for internal energy i or
temperature T.
• Internal energy equation:

(21)

Where Si = SE − u . SM , new source term

• Temperature equation:
• For the special case of an incompressible fluid we
have i = cT, where c is the specific heat and we know
that div u = 0.
• Then from the above equation,

(22)
• Total enthalpy equation:
• For compressible flows energy equation is often
rearranged to give an equation for the enthalpy.

• The specific enthalpy h and the specific total enthalpy

h0 of a fluid are defined as

• Combining these two definitions with the one for

specific energy E we get
• Substitution of ho into energy equation and some
rearrangement yields the (total) enthalpy equation

(23)
Note: Internal energy equation, Temperature equation
and total enthalpy equations are alternative forms of
energy equation.
Navier-Stokes equations for a Newtonian fluid
• Navier-Stokes equation, in fluid mechanics is
a partial differential equation that describes the flow
of incompressible and viscous fluids.
• The equation is a generalization of the
equation devised by Swiss mathematician Leonhard
Euler in the 18th century to describe the flow of
incompressible and frictionless fluids.
• In 1821 French engineer Claude-Louis
Navier introduced the element of viscosity (friction)
for the more realistic and vastly more difficult
problem of viscous fluids.
• Throughout the middle of the 19th century, British
physicist and mathematician Sir George Gabriel
Stokes improved on this work, though complete
solutions were obtained only for the case of simple
two-dimensional flows.
Navier-Stokes equations for a Newtonian fluid
• The governing equations contain as further unknowns
the viscous stress components τij.

• Viscous stresses can be expressed as functions of the

local deformation rate or strain rate.

• In three-dimensional flows the local rate of

deformation is composed of the linear deformation
rate and the volumetric deformation rate.
• All gases and many liquids are isotropic (properties
remain uniform in all directions).

• The rate of linear deformation of a fluid element has

nine components in 3D flow, six of which are
independent in isotropic fluids (Schlichting, 1979).

• They are denoted by the symbol sij. The suffix system

is identical to that for stress components τij.
• There are three linear elongating deformation
components:

• There are also six shearing linear deformation

components:
• The volumetric deformation is given by:

• In a Newtonian fluid the viscous stresses are

proportional to the rates of deformation.
• The three-dimensional form of Newton’s law of
viscosity for compressible flows involves two
constants of proportionality:

– The first (dynamic) viscosity, μ, to relate stresses

to linear deformations, and

– The second viscosity, λ, to relate stresses to the

volumetric deformation.
• The nine viscous stress components, of which six are
independent, are

𝟐
• Stokes made the hypothesis that λ = - μ
𝟑
• Liquids are incompressible so the mass conservation
equation is div u = 0 and the viscous stresses are just
twice the local rate of linear deformation times the
dynamic viscosity.

• Substitution of the above shear stresses into

Momentum Equations yields the so-called Navier–
Stokes equations, named after the two nineteenth-
century scientists who derived them independently:
 MOMEMENTUM EQUATIONS

Substituting shear stresses into Momentum

Equations yields the so-called Navier–Stokes
equations
Navier-Stokes equations

(24)
• Often it is useful to rearrange the viscous stress terms
as follows:

(25)
• We clearly intend to simplify the momentum
equations by ‘hiding’ the bracketed smaller
contributions to the viscous stress terms in the
momentum source.

• Defining a new source by SM = SM + [sM]

• The Navier–Stokes equations can be written in the
most useful form for the development of the finite
volume method:

(26)
Momentum Equation Navier-Stokes Equation
(Frictionless) (with Friction effects)
• If we use the Newtonian model for viscous stresses in
the internal energy equation we obtain

(27)

• Where Φ = dissipation function, which, after

considerable algebra, can be shown to be equal to

(28)
• The dissipation function ϕ is non-negative since it
only contains squared terms and represents a source
of internal energy due to deformation work on the
fluid particle.

• This work is extracted from the mechanical agency

which causes the motion and converted into internal
energy or heat.
Conservative form of the governing equations of fluid flow
Table .1 Governing equations of the flow of a compressible Newtonian fluid

(29)
 Differential and integral forms of the general transport
equations

• It is clear from Table.1 that there are significant

commonalities between the various equations.

• Introducing a general variable φ the conservative

form of all fluid flow equations, including equations
for scalar quantities such as temperature and pollutant
concentration etc., can usefully be written in the
following form:

(30)

Γ is the upper case of gamma, called as diffusion coefficient

• In words

• The above equation is the so-called transport

equation for property φ.
• It clearly highlights the various transport processes:
the rate of change term and the convective term on
the left hand side and the diffusive term (Γ =
diffusion coefficient) and the source term
respectively on the right hand side.

• In order to bring out the common features we have, of

course, had to hide the terms that are not shared
between the equations in the source terms.
• Transport Equation is used as the starting point for
computational procedures in the finite volume method.

• Note: Transport equation can be made to work for the

internal energy equation by changing i into T or vice
versa by means of an equation of state.

• By setting φ equal to 1, u, v, w and i (or T or h0) and

selecting appropriate values for diffusion coefficient Γ
and source terms, we obtain special forms of Table.1
for each of the five PDEs for mass, momentum and
energy conservation.
• The key step of the finite volume method, which is to be
to be developed from now onwards, is the integration of
Transport equation over a three-dimensional control
volume (CV):

(31)

• The volume integrals in the second term on the left

hand side, the convective term, and in the first term
on the right hand side, the diffusive term, are
rewritten as integrals over the entire bounding surface
of the control volume by using Gauss’s divergence
theorem.
• For a vector a Gauss’s divergence theorem states

(32)

• The physical interpretation of n.a is the component of

vector a in the direction of the vector n normal to
surface element dA.

• Thus the integral of the divergence of a vector a over

a volume is equal to the component of a in the
direction normal to the surface which bounds the
volume summed (integrated) over the entire bounding
surface A.
• Applying Gauss’s divergence theorem, equation (31)
can be written as follows:

(33)

• The order of integration and differentiation has been

changed in the first term on the left hand side of (33)
to illustrate its physical meaning. It signifies the rate
of change of the total amount of fluid property φ in
the control volume.
• The product n.ρφu expresses the flux component of
property φ due to fluid flow along the outward normal
vector n, so the second term on the left hand side of (33),
the convective term, therefore is the net rate of decrease
of fluid property φ of the fluid element due to
convection.

• The first term on the right hand side of (33), the diffusive
term, is thus associated with a flux into the element and
represents the net rate of increase of fluid property φ of
the fluid element due to diffusion.

• The final term on the right hand side of this equation

gives the rate of increase of property φ as a result of
sources inside the fluid element.
• In words

• Thus integration of the PDE generates a statement of

the conservation of a fluid property for a finite size
(macroscopic) control volume.
• In steady state problems the rate of change term of
(33) is equal to zero, which leads to the integrated
form of the steady transport equation:

(34)
• In time-dependent problems it is also necessary to
integrate with respect to time t over a small interval
Δt from, say, t until t + Δt.

• This yields the most general integrated form of the

transport equation:

(35)
 Classification of physical behaviours

• For the derived conservation equations of fluid flows

more attention is required to take care of the initial
and boundary conditions in conjunction with the
equations to construct a well-posed mathematical
model of a fluid flow.

• First we distinguish two principal categories of

physical behavior:
– Equilibrium problems
– Marching problems
Equilibrium problems:

• The problems in this category are steady state

situations, e.g. the steady state distribution of
temperature in a rod of solid material or the
equilibrium stress distribution of a solid object under
a given applied load, as well as many steady fluid
flows.

• These and many other steady state problems are

governed by elliptic equations.
• The prototype elliptic equation is Laplace’s equation,
which describes irrotational flow of an incompressible
fluid and steady state conductive heat transfer.

• In two dimensions we have

• A very simple example of an equilibrium problem is

the steady state heat conduction (where φ = T in the
above equation) in an insulated rod of metal whose
ends at x = 0 and x = L are kept at constant, but
different, temperatures T0 and TL
• Steady state temperature distribution of an insulated
rod

• This problem is one-dimensional and governed by the

equation kd2T/dx2 = 0.
• Under the given boundary conditions the temperature
distribution in the x-direction will, of course, be a
straight line.

• A unique solution to this and all elliptic problems can

be obtained by specifying conditions on the
dependent variable (here the temperature or its
normal derivative the heat flux) on all the boundaries
of the solution domain.

• Problems requiring data over the entire boundary are

called boundary-value problems.
• An important feature of elliptic problems is that a
disturbance in the interior of the solution, e.g. a
change in temperature due to the sudden appearance
of a small local heat source, changes the solution
everywhere else.

• Disturbance signals travel in all directions through the

interior solution.

• Consequently, the solutions to physical problems

described by elliptic equations are always smooth
even if the boundary conditions are discontinuous,
which is a considerable advantage to the designer of
numerical methods.
• To ensure that information propagates in all
directions, the numerical techniques for elliptic
problems must allow events at each point to be
influenced by all its neighbours.

Marching problems
• Transient heat transfer, all unsteady flows and wave
phenomena are examples of problems in the second
category, the marching or propagation problems.

• These problems are governed by parabolic or

hyperbolic equations.
• However, not all marching problems are unsteady.

• Certain steady flows are described by parabolic or

hyperbolic equations. In these cases the flow
direction acts as a time-like co-ordinate along which
marching is possible.

• Parabolic equations describe time-dependent

problems, which involve significant amounts of
diffusion.
• Examples: Unsteady viscous flows and Unsteady heat
conduction.
• The prototype parabolic equation is the diffusion
equation
• The transient distribution of temperature (again φ =
T) in an insulated rod of metal whose ends at x = 0
and x = L are kept at constant and equal temperature
T0 is governed by the diffusion equation.

• This problem arises when the rod cools down after an

initially uniform source is switched off at time t = 0.

• The temperature distribution at the start is a parabola

with a maximum at x = L/2
• The steady state consists of a uniform distribution of
temperature T = T0 throughout the rod.

• The solution of the diffusion equation (unsteady)

yields the exponential decay of the initial quadratic
temperature distribution.

• Initial conditions are needed in the entire rod and

conditions on all its boundaries are required for all
times t > 0.

• This type of problem is termed an initial boundary-

value problem.
• Hyperbolic equations dominate the analysis of
vibration problems.

• In general they appear in time-dependent processes

with negligible amounts of energy dissipation.

• The prototype hyperbolic equation is the wave

equation
• The above form of the equation governs the
transverse displacement (φ = y) of a string under
tension during small-amplitude vibrations and also
acoustic oscillations .

• The constant c is the wave speed.

 Text Books

• Versteeg, H.K., and Malalasekara, W, “An

Introduction to Computational Fluid Dynamics”, The
Finite Volume Method, 2007.