Circulation (fluid Dynamics)
In fluid dynamics, circulation is the line integral around a closed curve of the fluid velocity. Circulation is normally denoted .
If is the fluid velocity on a small element of a defined curve, and is a vector representing the differential length of that small element, the contribution of that differential length to circulation is :
- where is the angle between the vectors and .
The circulation around a closed curve is the line integral:
The dimensions of circulation are length squared, divided by time.
Circulation was first used independently by Frederick Lanchester, Wilhelm Kutta, and Nikolai Zhukovsky.
Read more about Circulation (fluid Dynamics): Kutta–Joukowski Theorem, Relation To Vorticity
Famous quotes containing the word circulation:
“Thought reading is like the circulation of the blood. We are all thought readers only we don’t pay attention to it.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)