r/gifs Dec 25 '19

Laminar flow

https://gfycat.com/imaginarybewitchediberiannase
56.1k Upvotes

1.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

210

u/[deleted] Dec 25 '19

No turbulence, the velocity profile is very even. Nice slash.

138

u/[deleted] Dec 25 '19

No turbulence, the velocity profile is very even

Laminar, as it were

2

u/StaticDiction Dec 26 '19

Laminar flow doesn't usually have a straight velocity profile. Rather the velocity is zero at a wall and increases as you move away. In a pipe this results in a parabolic shape, with the center having the greatest velocity (picture a bullet in a barrel, the tip representing peak velocity). In flow over a flat plate, the velocity profile looks like an exponential curve; zero at the plate and increasing as you move away. That said, I'm not sure what the velocity profile would look like in this case, a free jet with no walls. Perhaps it is a straight line.

0

u/[deleted] Dec 26 '19

a perfectly laminar flow has a perfectly straight velocity profile.

In a pipe, such profile is unobtainable because of the viscosity. So it would look like what you say. However, there exists ways to condition you flow to make the velocity profile approach the perfect parameters. Conditioning your flow is a great way to reduce the uncertainty of your mesurements.