Lecturer: Mario Gallati   Stefano Sibilla  

Course name: Fluid mechanics
Course code: 502473
Degree course: Ingegneria per l'Ambiente e il Territorio
Disciplinary field of science: ICAR/01
L'insegnamento è caratterizzante per: Ingegneria per l'Ambiente e il Territorio
University credits: CFU 9
Course website: n.d.

Specific course objectives

The course gives the basic elements of fluid mechanics and hydraulics, in order to describe the flow phenomena in pipes and around bodies and to determine (through theory and experiments) its essential characteristics, such as velocity distributions, energy dissipation and dynamic effects.

Course programme

Fluid properties and conservation principles
Thermodynamics and equation of state for compressible and incompressible fluids. Continuity equation and its different mathematical formulations (local and global, Eulerian and Lagrangian). General mathematical formulatione of hydrodynamic equilibrium conditions.

Perfect liquid motion
Euler equations. Velocity potential. Technical situations which are studied with the potential motion scheme, typical problems and solutions.

Numerical solution techniques
The problem of spatial discretization: finite difference methods. Order of accuracy. Uniform and non-uniform computational meshes. Explicit and implict time integration. Stability analysis. Numerical dissipation. Central difference and upwind methods. Finite volume methods: cell-centered and cell-vertex schemes.

Dissipative effects in real fluids
Navier-Stokes equations and laminarmotion description. Boundary conditions. Turbulent flows, mathematical description and modelling of turbulent stresses.

Numerical solution of the Navier-Stokes equations
Solution methods for multi-dimensional parabolic problems. Linearization of non-linear terms in implicit schemes. Projection methods for the solution of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. Direct Numerical Simulation of turbulence (DNS). Reynolds-stress tensor modelling: mixing-length and “k-epsilon” models.

Unsteady free-surface flow and wave propagation
Theory of characteristics, positive and negative wave propagation, typical problems. Growth and propagation of steep waves.

Course entry requirements

Mechanics: tensorial quantities. Elements of vector calculus. Integral theorems of vector calculus. Elements of numerical analysis.

Course structure and teaching

Lectures (hours/year in lecture theatre): 48
Practical class (hours/year in lecture theatre): 26
Practicals / Workshops (hours/year in lecture theatre): 20

Suggested reading materials

Testing and exams