Alexandria University 2nd Year - Semester (1)

Faculty of Engineering Academic Year 2010/2011

Fluid Mechanics (MR 231)

Dimensional Analysis and Modeling

1. Dimensions and Units

A dimension is a measure of a physical quantity (without numerical values), while a unit

Fig. (1) A dimension is a measure of a physical quantity without numerical values, while a unit is
a way to assign a number to the dimension

There are seven primary dimensions (also called fundamental or basic dimensions)—
mass, length, time, temperature, electric current, amount of light, and amount of matter,
Table (1).

Table (1)

All non-primary dimensions can be formed by some combination of the seven primary
dimensions.

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For example, force has the same dimensions as mass times acceleration (by Newton’s
second law). Thus, in terms of primary dimensions,

(1)

Similarly, velocity can be expressed in terms of primary dimensions,

{Velocity} = {Length/Time} = {L/t} (2)

2. Dimensional Homogeneity

The law of dimensional homogeneity states that:

Every additive term in an equation must have the same dimensions.

Consider, for example, the change in total energy of a simple compressible closed system
from one state and/or time (1) to another (2), as illustrated in Fig. (2).

Fig. (2) Total energy of a system at state (1) and state (2)

The change in total energy of the system (E) is given by:

Change of total energy of a system: E = U + KE + PE (3)

Where, E has three components: internal energy (U), kinetic energy (KE), and potential
energy (PE). These components can be written in terms of the system mass (m);
measurable quantities and thermodynamic properties at each of the two states, such as
speed (V), elevation (z), and specific internal energy (u); and the known gravitational
acceleration constant (g),

U = m(u2 – u 1) KE = ½ m(V22 - V12) PE = mg(z2 – z1) (4)

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It is straightforward to verify that the left side of Eq. (3) and all three additive terms on
the right side of Eq. (3) have the same dimensions—energy.

Using the definitions of Eq. (4), we write the primary dimensions of each term,

If at some stage of an analysis it is found that two additive terms in an equation have
different dimensions, this would be a clear indication that an error has been made at some
earlier stage in the analysis. In addition to dimensional homogeneity, calculations are
valid only when the units are also homogeneous in each additive term. For example, units
of energy in the above terms may be J, N · m, or kg · m2/s2, all of which are equivalent.
Suppose, however, that kJ were used in place of J for one of the terms. This term would
be off by a factor of 1000 compared to the other terms. It is wise to write out all units
when performing mathematical calculations in order to avoid such errors.

3. Non-dimensionalization of Equations

The law of dimensional homogeneity guarantees that every additive term in an equation
has the same dimensions. It follows that if we divide each term in the equation by a
collection of variables and constants whose product has those same dimensions, the
equation is rendered non-dimensional.

Each term in a non-dimensional equation is dimensionless.

In the process of non-dimensionalizing an equation of motion, non-dimensional

As an example, consider the equation of motion describing the elevation z of an object

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Equation of motion:

(5)

Fig. (3) Object falling in a vacuum. Vertical velocity is drawn positively, so w  0 for a falling
object

Dimensional variables are defined as dimensional quantities that change or vary in the
problem. For the simple differential equation given in Eq. (5), there are two dimensional
variables: z (dimension of length) and t (dimension of time). Non-dimensional (or
dimensionless) variables are defined as quantities that change or vary in the problem,
but have no dimensions. Gravitational constant g, while dimensional, remains constant
and is called a dimensional constant. Two additional dimensional constants are relevant
to this particular problem, initial location z0 and initial vertical speed w0. While
dimensional constants may change from problem to problem, they are fixed for a
particular problem and are thus distinguished from dimensional variables. We use the
term parameters for the combined set of dimensional variables, non-dimensional
variables, and dimensional constants in the problem.

Equation (5) is solved by integrating twice and applying the initial conditions. The result
is an expression for elevation z at any time t:

Dimensional result:

(6)

The constant ½ and the exponent 2 in Eq. (6) are dimensionless results of the integration.
Such constants are called pure constants. Other common examples of pure constants are
 and e.

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To non-dimensionalize Eq. (5), we need to select scaling parameters, based on the
primary dimensions contained in the original equation. In fluid flow problems there are
typically at least three scaling parameters, e.g., L, V, and P0 - P, Fig. (4), since there are
at least three primary dimensions in the general problem (e.g., mass, length, and time).

Fig. (4) In a typical fluid flow problem, the scaling parameters usually include a characteristic
length L, a characteristic velocity V, and a reference pressure difference P0 - P. Other
parameters and fluid properties include density, viscosity, and gravitational acceleration.

In the case of the falling object being discussed here, there are only two primary
dimensions, length and time, and thus we are limited to selecting only two scaling
parameters. We have some options in the selection of the scaling parameters since we
have three available dimensional constants g, z0, and w0. We choose z0 and w0. With these
two chosen scaling parameters we non-dimensionalize the dimensional variables z and t.

The first step is to list the primary dimensions of all dimensional variables and
dimensional constants in the problem,

Primary dimensions of all parameters:

The second step is to use our two scaling parameters to non-dimensionalize z and t (by
inspection) into non-dimensional variables z* and t*,

Non-dimensionalized variables:

(7)

Substitution of equation (7) into equation (5) gives,

(8)

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This is the desired non-dimensional equation. The grouping of dimensional constants in
Eq. (8) is the square of a well-known non-dimensional parameter or dimensionless
group called the Froude number,

Froude number:

(9)

Substitution of Eq. (9) into Eq. (8) yields

Non-dimensionalized equation of motion:

(10)

In dimensionless form, only one parameter remains, namely the Froude number. Equation
(10) is easily solved by integrating twice and applying the initial conditions. The result is
an expression for dimensionless elevation z* at any dimensionless time t*:

Non-dimensional result:

(11)

Comparison of Eqs. (6) and (11) reveal that they are equivalent. There are three key
advantages of non-dimensionalization:

1. It increases our insight about the relationships between key parameters.

Equation (9) reveals, for example, that doubling w0 has the same effect as decreasing z0
by a factor of 4.

2. It reduces the number of parameters in the problem.

For example, the original problem contains one dependent variable, z; one independent
variable, t; and three additional dimensional constants, g, w0, and z0. The non-
dimensionalized problem contains one dependent parameter, z*; one independent
parameter, t*; and only one additional parameter, namely the dimensionless Froude
number, Fr. The number of additional parameters has been reduced from three to one.

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Example (1): Illustration of key Advantage (2) of Non-dimensionalization
A physics class conducts experiments in a large vertical pipe whose inside is kept under
vacuum conditions. The students are able to remotely release a steel ball at initial height
z0 between 0 and 15 m (measured from the bottom of the pipe), and with initial vertical
speed w0 between 0 and 10 m/s. A computer coupled to a network of photo sensors along
the pipe enables students to plot the trajectory of the steel ball (height z plotted as a
function of time t) for each test.

The students conduct several “brute force” experiments to determine how the trajectory is
affected by initial conditions z0 and w0. First they hold w0 fixed at 4 m/s and conduct
experiments at five different values of z0: 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 m. The experimental results
are shown in Fig. (5a). Next, they hold z0 fixed at 10 m and conduct experiments at five
different values of w0: 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 m/s. These results are shown in Fig. (5b).

Fig. (5) Trajectories of a steel ball falling in a vacuum: (a) w0 fixed at 4 m/s, and
(b) z0 fixed at 10 m.

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Non-dimensionalization

As discussed, this problem combines three of the original dimensional parameters (g, z0,
and w0) into one non-dimensional parameter, the Froude number. After converting to the
dimensionless variables of Eq. (7), the 10 trajectories of Fig. (5a) and (b) are re-plotted in
dimensionless format in Fig. (6). It is clear that all the trajectories are of the same family,
with the Froude number as the only remaining parameter. Fr2 varies from about 0.041 to
about 1.0 in these experiments.

Fig. (6) Trajectories of a steel ball falling in a vacuum. Data of Fig. (5a) and (b) are non-
dimensionalized and combined onto one plot.

In order to reasonably document the trajectories of the illustrated Example for a range of
all three of the dimensional parameters g, z0, and w0, the brute force method would
require several (say a minimum of four) additional plots like Fig. 7–12a at various values
(levels) of w0, plus several additional sets of such plots for a range of g. A complete data
set for three parameters with five levels of each parameter would require 5 3 = 125
experiments! Non-dimensionalization reduces the number of parameters from three to
one—a total of only 5 1 = 5 experiments are required for the same resolution. (For five
levels, only five dimensionless trajectories like those of Fig. (6) are required, at carefully
chosen values of Fr).

3. Extrapolation of results to untested conditions.

Example (2): Illustration of key Advantage (3) of Non-dimensionalization