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In fluid dynamics, a flow is considered incompressible if the divergence of the flow velocity is zero. However, related formulations can sometimes be used, depending on the flow system being modelled. Some versions are described below: Incompressible flow: =. This can assume either constant density (strict incompressible) or varying density flow.
For an incompressible and isotropic Newtonian fluid in laminar flow only in the direction x (i.e. where viscosity is isotropic in the fluid), the shear stress is related to the strain rate by the simple constitutive equation = where is the shear stress ("skin drag") in the fluid,
For constant fluid density, the incompressible equations can be written as a quasilinear advection equation for the fluid velocity together with an elliptic Poisson's equation for the pressure. On the other hand, the compressible Euler equations form a quasilinear hyperbolic system of conservation equations .
A liquid is a nearly incompressible fluid that conforms to the shape of its container but retains a nearly constant volume independent of pressure. It is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, gas, and plasma), and is the only state with a definite volume but no fixed shape.
Pressure in water and air. Pascal's law applies for fluids. Pascal's principle is defined as: A change in pressure at any point in an enclosed incompressible fluid at rest is transmitted equally and undiminished to all points in all directions throughout the fluid, and the force due to the pressure acts at right angles to the enclosing walls.
In fluid dynamics, two types of stream function are defined: The two-dimensional (or Lagrange) stream function, introduced by Joseph Louis Lagrange in 1781, [ 1 ] is defined for incompressible ( divergence-free ), two-dimensional flows .
Therefore, the continuity equation for an incompressible fluid reduces further to: = This relationship, =, identifies that the divergence of the flow velocity vector is equal to zero (), which means that for an incompressible fluid the flow velocity field is a solenoidal vector field or a divergence-free vector field.
Incompressible potential flow also makes a number of invalid predictions, such as d'Alembert's paradox, which states that the drag on any object moving through an infinite fluid otherwise at rest is zero. [10] More precisely, potential flow cannot account for the behaviour of flows that include a boundary layer. [1]